I'm planning on having the prelude boosted and running by this time next year. I am currently building the motor. But I recently have been thinking of being able to pass smog. I've also read a story about a kid getting pulled over, the officer asked to pop the hood, the kid got fined up the *** for having a swap + turbo.

Is there anyway around this? If i keep the same motor can't I just cover the turbo and the manifold with a custom heatshield, i'm sure I can hide all the other little goodies and stuff. But then I thought about OBDII-> OBD I conversion Harness with a different ecu. Won't the smoger know I changed and messed with the ecu?

 

if you want boost, move, or sell your prelude and buy an eclipse, theyre faster and cheaper anyways

 

I think if you get the greddy kit they have some sort of carb exemption sticker, other than that your fucked. Or just get the carb exemption sticker from a greddy kit and slap some huge *** kit on there. But if they send you to a ref, all is lost my friend.

 

god i hate this state

 

A cop can ask you to pop your hood, you can say no or ask him do inform you of his reasoning. He has to have probable cause to do so...

If the officer does get the chance to look under the hood he cant in any way determine what is and is not legal... He is not a smog ref, he is a law inforcer and cannot act as both. If he sees something that does not "look" legal he can send you to your local CA smog ref... The officer himself can not fine you for having aftermarket parts on your car... All he can do is make sure you are not violating any vehicle laws such as ride height, decible limits, seat belts and also make sure you have the required compnents, ie catalytic converter, muffler, etc... If you are running with out a cat and the officer looks under the car and sees that you are infact violating a CA vehicle requirement than yeah, your fucked, prepare to pay some big $$$...

I have always run test pipes with dummy OEM heat shields welded in place to look just like the stock cat...

The appointments for CA smog ref's are usually a month or 2 after the sitation was/is written which means plenty of time for you to unbolt the turbo kit, swap your stock exhaust manifold and exhaust back along with all the rest of the OEM goodies you swapped for performance parts... Dont worry about forged pistons or ported heads... Just run a bottle of rubbing alcohol through a full tank of gas before you go to the ref to clean the carbon deposits off the domes of your pistons and youll be fine... A ported head will almost always help the motor test cleaner due to the fact that it flows/operates more efficiantly than the stock casting so your covered there as well...

 

Damn thats such a PITA. Thank god Virginia isnt as bad, but i have a feeling it will be soon enough.

 

Ever been to Mexico City? The air there really, really is bad... that's how it used to be here. Air burning your eyes and making you wheeze when you breath. I lived through that time, before catalytic converters. They're a good idea, sorry to rain on your rant.

 

Yea im from la paz, bolivia. Its real bad there, damn high altitude and the smog makes your eyes red like a vampire if you stay longer then 15min outside. Yea im pretty sure i know what your talking about. LOL

 

so how does the cali laws apply to someone driving though? will i get fined? or could they make me come back to see a ref or whatever?

 

Thanks for the info rick solis. How do you pass smog to run your car on the street, or should I say who passes you and how much

 

Damn. I was hoping this thread was about a girl named cali who liked ****.

 

If it was i would of asked for pics by now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Matgallis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the info rick solis. How do you pass smog to run your car on the street, or should I say who passes you and how much </TD></TR></TABLE>

1. Find a smog station that will make it pass on paper for a little extra $$$

2. Return your motor to as close to stock as possible

2. Swap a stock "smog motor" in for your regular due tests

 

cops are stupid... just tell him its a muffler radiator or somthin...

as far as smog.. **** YOU GUYS!! WE DONT HAVE IT HERE! just kidding.... that would suck.

 

JRSC is CA smog legal.

 

We dont even have emissions tests down here in Texas, alse i gotta worry about is my turnsignals lmao, sucks for you guys, our cops dont even give a sh*t what you run on your car, just as long as your not speeding your all good. Never in my life have I been asked to pop my hood, but Ive seen plenty of videos of cali cops and such.

 

yea ive had my hood popped.

Rick, the whole probable cause thing is true, but its still a cop. He can make up some bullshit excuse and you will end up having to pop your hood anyway. Its not like they have any idea what they are looking at anyway. lol, its like when you see people broken down on the side of the road, they got their hood up but have no idea what/where to look.

If you are sent to a ref and fail, what then? like no matter what you do, you cant pass. They impound your car ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98TypeSH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rick, the whole probable cause thing is true, but its still a cop. He can make up some bullshit excuse and you will end up having to pop your hood anyway. Its not like they have any idea what they are looking at anyway. lol, its like when you see people broken down on the side of the road, they got their hood up but have no idea what/where to look.
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Exactly, Most people make their engine bays all bling bling. I'll probaly wrap my intercooler piping Hide my turbo with um the camo look? lol i dunno FACK

 

Just try and paint all the piping with some flat black high temp paint. if its not uber bling, then they will probably over look it.

 

or just build an engine shroud around your engine, like vettes have or volkswagons... lmao a cop isnt gunna bullsh*t around with taking a big shroud off.. thats what id do, plus it would look really clean and stealthy with JUST the valve cover showing... IMO ... can easily be done out of sheet metal and flat blAck.

 

slap the turbo on and just dont go speeding around town. comes time for smog test just swap out the turbo or find someone to pay about 300 bucks to pass you.

 

i wasnt speeding around town when i got pulled over and my hood poped. i was going 45 in a 45, just crusing with my windows down, and he stopped me and asked me to pop my hood, nothing else. lol

 

Hmm I dunno what i'm going to do. But it looks like I will paint the intercooler piping and maybe the intercooler itself? I think i'll make a giant heatshield for the turbo

Oh and can I use a obdI ecu with hondata while getting smogged? Can built internals run safely and a properly tunned ecu?(since it's all set up for the tubro..)

 

I have also been thinking of keep my stock muffler but running a custom exhaust up till the stock bolt on muffler. How much will this damper performance?