Ok I need alittle advice on this one. My car can no longer pass smog unless I were to do a swap and put stock ecu back in it (fully built b20vtec w/ s300), and therefore i cannot reregister it. It is in a 98 civic and I live in illinois. It is ready to be a track dedicated car and thats what I want to do with it. so now I am looking at alternatives to going to and from track events. I live in milwaukee but my mom's house where the car is registered is in chicago. so I do occasionally drive 112 miles round trip to visit her/ see friends.

Right now the options are Truck + trailer (i would buy a truck for my DD and tow vehicle) OR I would buy a older civic for the DD and try to find a place that i could register my car to pass smog or get out of it all together, so i can drive it to and from events.

The benefits of the truck are less wear and tear and I can dedicate more time to the car and not have to worry about something happening at the track. and the benefits of the no smog would be the great gas mileage to and from events(Yes I still avg about 30+mpg with the engine...on street highways)

What would you choose?

 

register in rural WI, problem solved.

It's very possible to get the car (no matter how modified) to pass IL emissions. But it's not easy.

As a 98 all you have to do is pass the plug in check and fuel cap... some places don't even check the fuel cap anymore.
They do not check under the hood. That is provided your car doesn't shake like it's having a seizure and you can't hear your exhaust 2 miles away... while idling.

all though the freedom of not having to worry about getting home if you bend something while on the track is a huge weight off your chest.

I've been back and forth with this also, I opted to keep the car street legal, but am going to pick up a little trailer to pull behind it. No more loading and unloading the car twice for every event.

 

I have thought about registering my car in rural Wisco but I don't know how to go about doing that if I do not live there or have a mailing address there. I don't think they still allow P.O Boxes in Wisco any more either. I was going to register in Naperville, IL untill the took away the p.o Box registration.

Yea the plug in for obd2 is ez. but I don't ahev the sensors/ ecu capable of running my engine while I get it tested. I was thinking about just switching out the ecu right as I get down the street but I'm not sure how it would react and I don't wana take a risk with the 440 cc injectors I have. Maybe I can role up there with the s300...fail since it cannot be read ... get an extension? I have done **** similiar to that for the past 2 years lol.

 

the extension thing is only 2 months now. and you get three extensions then an automatic failure and suspension of the plates, then 2 months they suspend your license. (you can guess how I know this)
the OBB2 ECU and stock injectors would be the best bet. But you'd have to drive on it for a while so you can clear the readiness flags. There are at least four readiness flags that are set when you clear the codes, but they clear themselves after a regular drive cycle.

the B20 ECU would likely be your best bet, along with a set of regular 240cc injectors. Provided you haven't stripped out everything in the engine bay, you'll have minimal problems.

 

I just really don't think it will run with the ecu and injectors. 13:1 compression w/ skunk 2 pro 2's. Its hard for me to take the risk since its a new engine. and I am a broke college student.

 

but would it be better for me to try and go through the trouble to smog it and get a car or should I just get truck/trailer

 

depends on how far your broke collage student income can support things.

if the truck/trailer is an option, I'd say go for it.
If it's out of the price range, then something would have to be done to the car to get it to pass.

backing off the ignition a little and running the stock injectors with maybe an adjustable regulator turned up a bit to get the A/Fs right... it should be ok for a little while. But I would only drive it as absolutely little as possible on that setup, then drop back to your tuned setup.
I'm 10 miles from a test station near gurnee, you're welcome to use my place as a jumping spot to get it done.
Unfortunately I don't have an ECU that would get you going, I'd suggest an early USDM ITR, P73-A02 or P73-A03. (A04 is out due to OBD2b and immobilizer)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by unrealwrc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have thought about registering my car in rural Wisco but I don't know how to go about doing that if I do not live there or have a mailing address there. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Use your resources.

148 Breese Ter
Madison, WI 53726

 

truck and trailer if you don't daily drive the car that much anymore...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Relic1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the extension thing is only 2 months now. and you get three extensions then an automatic failure and suspension of the plates, then 2 months they suspend your license. (you can guess how I know this)
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That doesn't sound reasonable.

Why would they suspend your drivers license if you own a car that won't pass inspection? what about your other cars (pretend you have some) that do pass inspection; you're not allowed to drive those either now???

I chose to just drive to and from the track without inspection stickers. it's only about 70 miles each way, and I have insurance and everything, so the fine can't be THAT big on the off chance I'm pulled over.

Some tell stories of inspectors not so totally burdened or constrained by the letter of the law (more it's spirit), so maybe one of those could hook you up.