Im gonna be moving to Cali in a couple months... how the hell do you guys still do swaps and stuff into your car? i hear smog is tough down there... Anyone got any info? cause i wanna get a EK hatch and stick with hondas... but if i cant figure it out im going to end up getting something else... because on the DMV website they said newer cars are exempt from the smog or something like that.. and i dont really like newer hondas...

 

Find a hatch that already has a swapped and bar'd motor. I only buy bar'd civics. Second step would be to find a smog shop that isn't totally **** and willing to be a little lenient so you can pass smog without too many headaches

 

How often do you got to go to the smog shop? here you got to do emissions every 2 years but if the cars 20 years old you can get historic tags which basically you can do what ever you want to the car... so i could drive with no doors if i wanted

 

every two years and every time ownership changes

 

Californias so annoying with this ****... so basically only motor i could put ina EK is a newer motor.... so legally only motor i can put in the EK hatch would be the b16b the CTR since its the same car?

 

They should make a sticky for california rules lmfao

 

California may be specific, but generally the engine just has to be of the same year or newer as the car model and nothing more. So putting a LS1 into an RX-7 is still ok because the LS1 is newer than the RX-7.

Now where it gets fuzzy from my knowledge is say you have a car made from 1996-2002 and yours specifically is from 1999 and you want to put and engine that was in production from 1990-1997 and the specific engine is from 1992. Is it ok because the engines lifespan and car models lifespan overlap or do the specific engine and car have to agree with each other?

 

..... I think california makes up laws to confuse people on purpose... I just wish i could build another b20vtec and throw it in my hatch and call it a day.... but they say i cant cause b20 is a SUV motor or what ever.. do cops know info like would they know if it came out of a older prelude or no?

 

The cops usually don't know anything. Some know to look for how many digits are on the block. And if its missing numbers they know its japanese. Buts thats bout it. Plus looking for shiny objects that don't belong like fuel regulators, and fuel gauge or header. If you come to california prepare to pay someone to do your "smog" for you. and be prepared to lock your car up wherever you go cuz people are going to try to steal it

Welcome to california. Cuz Im planning on leaving it

 

1. The reason why California do smog is because it is the number 1 polluted state in the U.S.

2. It is legal to do certain swap is because taking out the original old used engine and putting in a newer is more Economic Efficient.

 

you can do any swap, ctr, itr, b16, gsr, ls, single cams, anything minus b20's, as long as the engine is of the same year or newer you can do it, this doesnt mean you cant do older model swaps this just means you have to bring them up to date, say you have a 00 ek and you have a obd1 b16 that you wanna put in, you just swap over the distributor alternator etc to convert it to obd2b and your set, as long as you can pass smog youll be good, its strict but theres plenty of ways around it, the people that get caught and ****ed over are the people that get crappy work done on their cars, the ones that have all kinds of mickey mouse **** and drive like idiots that catch the police's attention ive driven cars with built motors, swaps, turbo setups, you name it, and not once have i gotten caught up, ive been pulled over and had my cars inspected but they never catch me for anything, even if the parts you get arent legit (smog/carb) just get stickers that say they are, if you wanna run a nice header, go on craigslist buy a beat up dc sports header for dirt cheap, cut off the carb plate and weld it onto your header, same for intakes, get a beat up old aem and take the carb sticker and place it on yours, cops will never know the difference

i pay $150 to have my car smogged without any hassle.. dont do mickey mouse work and you can pass any test..