25 Aug 97 11:11, Puleeeeze Brer Alexander Bilan, Dooooon't trow emmisions in 
dat der Briar Patch!
 >> Start a protest movement.
 AB>
 AB> Protest?  Remember, I'm in Canada...
You don't have a Freedom of Speech clause in you Bill of Rights?
 >> I wouldn't worry about it.  Unless you've removed some of the smog
 >> devices...:)
 AB>
 AB> Er..Ahem... The truck is about as close to stock as I'm as close to
 AB> my birthweight.
Ewwwwww!  Don't take it to a smog chek station that way.  I don't know about 
Canada, but here, it's against Federal and California law to remove any smog 
device, good or bad.  R&R, but no remove it for good. Federal law, for 
instance, is up to a $10,000 fine for removing a cat...
 >> By then they'll change it to every car and truck, 4 to 25 years...
AB> Grrr...  At least my car will still be exempt...
 AB>
 >> exhaust car nowadays.  When you do, there's always someone writing
 >> down the license plate and calling 1-800-SMOKING...
 AB>
 AB> A smog snitch line?
Yes, California is becoming a Police state.  When they get the info, they 
send you a letter that advises you that your car may need to be repaired. If 
they get a second report, you get a notice to appear at a smog chek station.  
I've abused the system by reporting a**holes who can't drive. I wait a few 
days after the first report and then make a second...I especially can't stand 
anybody who flagrantly runs a red light.  I report them to the smoking car 
number every time.  It's too bad I can't make a citizen's arrest by calling 
that number...
 >> If you're from out of state/country here with a smoking vehicle, it
 >> gets impounded.  Poor Mexicans can't afford to drive across the
 >> border.
 AB>
 AB> This only applies to smoking vehicles then?
Until the Infra-Red Sniffer comes into service.  This fall or December 1, 
when Smog Chek II comes into effect.  This is a dyno smog check...
 AB> I'd hate to make a trip to CA with my truck (which surely exceeds CA
 AB> emmsion limits for that vehicle) and be met at the state line with a
 AB> tow truck.
You'll be given the chance to turn around, although I suspect the Officer 
will already have the other state's troopers on the alert.  Naw, just pulling 
your leg.  They won't bother you...
Actually Alex, this is a good thing.  When the first cars with smog devices 
were built, they sucked, bigtime.  As Detroit got better at it and the 
computer became prolific, cars not only got cleaner, but they got better gas 
milage, going faster while doing it.
In the Automotive echo, somebody was saying how much of a slug the 454 
Corvette was because it ran 13.40's off the street.  Today the Corvette does 
that with 100 cubic inches less and gets 25mpg to boot. No 454 Corvette got 
12mpg, let alone double that.
 >> It'l grow on you...:)  Frankly, I enjoy the clean air.  Smog in
 >> California was
 >> at it's worst in the 70's.. Back then we had 30-40 days a year of
 >> dangerous smog days.  Now we have 3 or 4...
 AB>
 AB> While I don't have anything against clean air, its the way that this
 AB> stuff seemingly gets rammed at me that I dislike. I'd hate to build a
 AB> low use late model street hotrod that only sees a few miles on the
 AB> road a month, then get hit by some legislation that suddenly tells me
 AB> I've got a hurdle.
Pay attention to the aftermarket.  When they tell you that the equipment they 
sell can't be used on a computer controlled/emissions controlled vehicle, 
those guys are behind the times. Or their product is only meant to be used on 
the race track.   You can go fast with computer controlled vehicles, just use 
the right equipment.
 AB>     Not to say that hurdle isn't jumpable, but the fact that if you
 AB> build it within legal limits at one point, and then get hit with a
 AB> legal change which doesn't allow grandfathering in of existing
 AB> "legal" vehicles I get jumpy about it.
If you build it to be legal, it won't be needing any retro-fitting later.
The CARB has been pretty reasonable about that.  Remember the friend I told 
you about with the 396 in his 84 or 85 Camaro?  It got grandfathered in when 
they disallowed that swap later. I couldn't do that to my Camaro. I'd have to 
use a late model 454 or 502 if I wanted a BB in my car. And all of my present 
smog devices have to be hooked up as well.
The new thing I've been reading is the LATE model engine in the OLDer, 
computerless car. When you swap a 5.7L TPI engine into your 68 Camaro, you 
now have to hook up the computer and all of it's sensors to make it street 
legal.  Which isn't a bad thing.  You get todays performance and fuel economy 
with yesterdays nostalgic look...
 AB>  If I start building something to meet these limits, fine, I take
 AB> the appropriate steps. But if I've got a fine tuned machine with a
 AB> few bucks into it, I do not want to have to spend another fortune to
 AB> put back a computer and probably re-do the entire engine if its on
 AB> the ragged edge of streetability to meet the new requirements. No
 AB> doubt all thats been said in California already.
Well, all 1965 and earlier cars are exempt from the smog checks.  That's not 
to say that they can go down the road laying a (blue) smoke screen.
That's also not to say that the exhaust can be black with soot from too much 
raw gas.  It's still got to be clean or you will get pulled over.
Most of the Hot Rods around here run late model engines and stuff. There's 
some who have blowers and all kinds of carburators, but they're all clean 
running engines.  CARB took the "pride of ownership" that's usually displayed 
by the hot rodder into account on these vehicles. You get the benefit of the 
doubt until you prove yourself unworthy...
... I wrote a few children's books... But not on purpose.
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