i just bought a new jdm engine for my honda. i live in california and i plan to take my honda to a auto shop to install my engine. what im worrying is them reporting to me to the dmv about my car. they are gonna smog test it. and i plan on putting turbo. is it illegal to have a turbo on a honda? also should i put the turbo on the engine before i swap?

 

Ahhh Cali? I was gonna say just find a shop that would just run you through. And why would the shop install the motor, then report you?

 

well its not illegal until they catch you but the turbo is going to need to have a carb number to be legal and etc...and depending on the what kind of motor you got it should be ok

 

Here in cali its illegal to own a honda it seems like. Basically you are going to need a smog man period point blank especially if you are planning on turbo and swapping the motor.

 

Id suggest doing the motor swap, getting all the kinks out, Getting it smogged before you turbo it, that way you dont run into any trouble..

 

As long as the turbo kit has CARB approval number and sticker, it is legal. Same goes for intake and header. i think so far only jackson racing supercharger and greddy turbo kit is street legal. you can also legalize your engine swap by installing a newer USDM engine and ECU with all of the smog device intacted. And you can take it to get BAR certified. there is a guideline listed in the DMV web site.

i dont think the auto shop will gay enough to report your car to dmv, there are so many swaped honda out there. however, smog tech might report you to dmv (happened to my friend's turbo sentra and they actually send some people to his house to inspect his car).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RiversideS13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> however, smog tech might report you to dmv (happened to my friend's turbo sentra and they actually send some people to his house to inspect his car). </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats plain rediculous...I don't think so... You can't even go to any DMV without waiting at least an hour...what makes you think the DMV has a team that personally goes to your house to check your vehicle. They will write you a letter and send you to a smog ref before they make any house calls...That was good for a laugh though!!!

 

ok, so heres how they explained it in Import Tuner and they used a Civic w/ a B18 swap. You have to go to the DMV and theres a ref that first does a visual inspection. They said its better the have all original equipment; i.e. exhaust components. They're gonna check the air intake box, muffler, cat, and headers first, so make sure they're all O.E. for that car. Next they're gonna check the ECU and nitpick the engine. Chipped ECU's are NOT allowed. Finally they're gonna do an actual smog check, and from what i understand, a lot of JDM motors fail for high NOX levels. I would throw some seafoam in there like a week before i went and put a new catylitic converter. The 2 biggest reasons for high nox, is more compression, and a dirty motor. Hope this helps, good luck, and post pics

 

You can use the same year or newer motor, and you have to utilize the smog components for the motor you are installing.

My experience is that if your swap looks like a swap, ie. Electrical Components hooked up with speaker wire, wires everywhere, etc. they will inspect closer because they suspect something, however if you do a clean job and retain all of the wire mount points and use loom they will be less likely to suspect anything.

Also, there are still a lot of shops ran by old chevy/ford guys that have no idea what a honda or acura motor is supposed to look like and if you ask those guys they will tell you that they all look the same to them. Just do what I did and find a shop like that. Good luck.

 

Sorry to be off topic, but;

Oh hey you're from from Vacaville (I'm from Vallejo)! LoL wow. If I'm wrong excuse my ignorance, but don't some shops help you legalize your car if you ask them? I think one of the guys on my friend's team said something about that (for the shop he used to work at), I don't exactly remember that was awhile ago. I might get my swap work done through them, but if not I'll take it to work and have one of the techs smog it for me.

 

Im pretty sure you wont pass visual if you have the turbos on. I know if you have them turned down it should pass the smog. but unless you know the owner, you wont pass the visual.

 

btw, if you want, i can try to find a shop that will sign off the smog cert. but it might cost a nice chunk out of your walet.

You might be better off getting the swap, getting it passed off and bar'd by a ref, and then throwing the turbo on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DKYamada &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> You might be better off getting the swap, getting it passed off and bar'd by a ref, and then throwing the turbo on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah thats what i did hahaha...but once you go to the ref, you either gotta pass it with them or put back your old motor cuz they will put a hold on your record...no other place can smog you...after you got it BAR, add turbo and just keep ur car lowprofile, you should be ok with most cops

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dtran002 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah thats what i did hahaha...but once you go to the ref, you either gotta pass it with them or put back your old motor cuz they will put a hold on your record...no other place can smog you...after you got it BAR, add turbo and just keep ur car lowprofile, you should be ok with most cops</TD></TR></TABLE>

true, half of the problem with catching a lot of crap is the kids that race around town and make their cars so loud its obnoxious,

if you drive like a normal human where you're supposed to you'll be ok

 

Yeah...and I don't think a lot of 500 whp guys drive like dumbasses with the gas mileage they get.