I will move to live in California this February, and I have a modded 1995 Camaro M-6. Quick mods list-CC306, stage II heads, LT's, Borla, resonator, and no cat . So far I was getting by in Illinois very well since there is no emissions testing required if you register you car outside Chicago, like little towns of Champaign or Dekalb. I know people still mod their cars in California, and I was wondering how do they get by the strict state emission's laws. How much time a new comer to California is given before his first manditory emissions test? Is there any place I could register my car so no emissions testing would be required. I could put a couple cats on the car and stock cam before I leave if I really need to, but this is not something I would enjoy doing

Tomas

 

Tanker, unless someone directs you to a bootleg checking station, you can expect to have problems getting your car smogged. The LT headers, the cat, and most likely the cam will give you grief. Legally, you should register the car as soon as you establish residence. Realistically, you can probably get away with out of state plates for a couple of months. Just don't get stopped for a traffic offense. AFAIK, the only locations that don't require testing are a few remote mountain villages in the high Sierras.

 

Go to http://www.dmv.ca.gov/ and click on the link on the left that says "New to California?"

I'm sure you will need to get the car smogged before you can register it. Every "metro" area of SoCal requires a IM240 emissions test on the roller dyno, which includes a visual inspection.

At the very least, you will definitely need to put a catalytic converter back on, but you should be fine with the rest of your mods as long as your EGR, A.I.R. pipes, smog pump, etc, all work.

 

With the right tune you could probably pass with that cam. But you will need a cat and if the smog plass knows what to look for you will need to get rid of the lt's because they wont pass a visual.

 

There's two ways you can go here.....with pro's and con's each way.

1. Head for the nearest track when you get in town,(LACR, Fontana, Famoso..etc) and cozy up to some of the faster NA late model cars there, and ask them if they know someone who can pass you for a price...and that price will usually be $250-350. You won't have to even take your car anywhere, the "smog" guy will turn in the paperwork to DMV, and you're set. If you don't have any luck with that, I can probably hook you up with someone like I described.

Pro's: Don't have to buy new cats, which won't be cheap cause of your longtubes...and they'll need to be new to have ANY chance of passing with that cam, even with leaning out the tune.

Con's: By not having cats on the car in LA, you run the risk of having John Law eventually catch up with you and send you to the nearest Inspection Station...and then you are FU<KED! Sure you can slap some cats on, but they'll nail you for the longtubes...and every other damned thing. Not saying the above scenario will ever go down, but having had a 306 in a car with no cats, I know about how loud yours is, therefore it will only be a matter of time before you get pinched.

2. Put cats on the car, lean out the tune, new EGR, etc, etc....and HOPE you can pass. No assurance here. The 306 cam is not a smog friendly cam. Also keep in mind, that what I've described here would probably cost you more than the 3 bones it would just to find a "guy". It's almost imperative that you do your own tuning, or have a buddy who can work with you, otherwise you may never get it right enough to pass. A buddy of mine just BARELY passed in LA County with a 224/230 319x series cam....using brand new cats. He's fairly knowledgable when it comes to tuning as well.

Good luck.......you'll soon know why I bailed to Iowa.

 

Thanks for detailed options. I am seriously thinking on putties shorties, or midlength headers if they are allowed, and buying two cars with Y-pipe. Will be costly, but I am hoping somebody will trade my hookers+Y-pipe to theirs mid/short length+Y-pipe. Also, I will need to get A.I.R. pipes, those didn't come out easy from the car, so they will probably will not go on easy as well I am not trying to look for any trouble in new state, so most likely I will get my cc306 swapted to xe 224/230 as well. I am pretty knowledgeble with tunning software, got everything I need to reprogram

 

What I'd do quite honestly, is scour Ebay for a deal on a dead-stock LT1 out of an F-Body w/OBDI PCM with a lot of miles on it that runs good, has all the smog **** on it, and simply swap motors when it's time every two years. Just a thought...