Smog Regulations in CA......and 240SX Mods

[GT500916]

Ok here is the thing, i live in CA and the smog regulations suck here, so making a 240sx do 13s in a 1/4 mile will be a pain. First i would like to ask a few questions, those who know more about imports than me. I rebuild classic cars, that should clear up my GT500916 name (916 is just my area core) the thing is, hot rods dont have any smog regulations because they are so tight. For my 240s im looking into buying a greddy turbo wich they do make a smog legal one, but that one is weak at 6psi, i was wondering if anyone know of a smog legal turbo that will do more psi, 10-15psi? I have rebuild engines, but will rebuilding my 240s engine lower my chances or passing smog? i will bore it out .20 over and get fresh pistons and rings with lower compression for the turbo set up. If i change the cam i know smoging my car will suck. So i doubt there is a cam that can be smog legal, but if there is, point me in the right direction.

I will first do everything external, things like exhaust, non-turbo header (at first) intake manifold from a SR20det? will that bolt on to a KA24DE head? would a SR20DET head bolt on to a KA24DE block? I will change the flywheel and put stage 1-2 clutch, my friend just got a stage 3 on his 150 hp integra haha, im gonna drive that tomorrow and see if its even possible to drive that thing!

One more question i have is the rear end of a 240. If you take a Camaro for example you can just swap the rear end old gear 3.55 to a 4.11 and make it a extremely fast car off the line in 1/4 without doing any engine mods at all. Rear end is the biggest improvement you can do to a cars acceleration. SO , since im still learning about the imports and the 240sx rear wheel drive, is there gear swaps for the rear? There is a limited slip, but what about just the gears? and how do you tell which are better and the ratio of them? whats a stock rear end gear ratio of a 240? (example, camaro z28 stock is 3.55, changing it to a 4.11 it accels much faster)

Please give me some pointers because im still learning. Thank you for reading this. Nick

[Chuki_breath]

the kit is "rated" at 6psi, that doesnt mean you cant turn the boost up yourself. They wouldnt just give you a kit that said lets say 17psi because then any schmoe would buy it and prolly blow there shit up. They sell it at that psi to save there ass. As far as swapping out sr20 and ka24 parts together i dont think thats possible.

[Reelten]

You can fit a chevy small block in the 240sx... there is plenty of room, the rear end will need some work, custom driveshaft and such, prolly come out to as much as a rebuild and a turbo setup would....

custom mounts and crap are pretty easy to cut weld together.


point: CA legal and powerful N/A

[KenOhki2112]

You cannot Turbo charge a KA24 and pass smog in california. Visual inspection will fail you even if the car passes emissions. Hell, you can't even put an intake or a header on your car unless you buy a the $200 sticker to put on it. And with the outrageous fines acciosiated with "buying" a smog check, (I think it's $150,000 + lose smog certification.) It's almost impossible to bribe any one.

Edit: an SR20, or to a lesser extent, parts of an SR20 will also AUTO FAIL your car.

As much as I hate to say it, Move to nevada, or make it a track only car. =(

[GT500916]

why WHY!!! Does living in CA suck so bad when it comes to moding your car. OK so as far as i know there is nothing i can do to pass smog with my 240 haha... ok ok, but the the heck do supras twin turbos pass? obviously they are smog legal because they got tons of supras here. So i got one thing down so far, Greddy does make a turbo that is smog legal at 6psi, i saw it at their website the other day. So when i go smog it my car will pass unless i turn up my PSI to like 15 or something, so everytime i take it to get smogged i can just turn down the PSI or just take off the turbo completely, its only once every 2 years, so that isnt so bad.

Now what if i rebuild the engine from the inside and have it all turbo ready that means my engine will have less compression so passing smog would be easier wont it?

As far as the read end, i know i can put LSD on the rear, it will give me more traction, but what about changing gears to get more torque, anyone know if they sell gears? because all i have been able to find is LSD, but no higher gear ratios.

Everyone thank you for your replies. I want a cheap fast daily driver, i cant afford a supra, but i can afford to make out with my own hands out of a 240, but the smog legal sh^& sucks!! This is why im trying to get as much info possible to do the most mods i can while still having a way out when it comes down to smogging the car.

I also have 1 option, i can register the car to drive only 2,500 miles a day , and that will not require a smog, and ill drive it to work like once a week haha, but who want to make a tight car and drive it once a week... rrriiiggghhhtt!!

[mrflip69]

Greddy is still CARB pending, unless you can post your link otherwise. The kit is rated at 6psi, but turning up the boost shouldn't make it illegal. Emissions testing would probably be measured before the car hits full boost anyway.

I'm also under the impression that the Greddy kit is only legal on OBDII cars. If you want smog legal power, go with an engine swap (officially known as an "engine change" to the DMV) Look it up and research more on the subject...

http://www.arb.ca.gov/homepage.htm
http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/streetlegal.html

Mind telling me more about that 2,500 miles a day to evade smog checks? Or did you mean 2,500 miles a month or year?

[nomore240sx]

supras are legal cause it was oem that way. It was made like that. There isn't a 240sx that was turbo made by oem. Turbo cars become hard to pass smog after old age/high mileage unless you do a good amount of tune up or replacement.(note that I said 240sx...so I am only talking about the US models)

[GT500916]

the 2,500 miles, that was a year, my mistake. I read it on the DMV website somewhere that if your car drives so little a year you dont have to smog it. Its like the car is a classic or some collectors item so they let you fly with that.

Now i still would like to get a reply from someone about the LSD and the rear end gears and if there is any info out there about that please pass it on , thank you.

[nomore240sx]

stock ratio is 4.083 You can just change the gear and pinion in there and get a 2 way lsd. 240sx already have a good acceleration and I believe the higher the ratio the faster you go but you top off very quickly meaning your max speed drops. I think i have a 4.36 on mine but i don't remember.

[KenOhki2112]

Originally Posted by GT500916

why WHY!!! Does living in CA suck so bad when it comes to moding your car. OK so as far as i know there is nothing i can do to pass smog with my 240 haha... ok ok, but the the heck do supras twin turbos pass? obviously they are smog legal because they got tons of supras here. So i got one thing down so far, Greddy does make a turbo that is smog legal at 6psi, i saw it at their website the other day. So when i go smog it my car will pass unless i turn up my PSI to like 15 or something, so everytime i take it to get smogged i can just turn down the PSI or just take off the turbo completely, its only once every 2 years, so that isnt so bad.

Now what if i rebuild the engine from the inside and have it all turbo ready that means my engine will have less compression so passing smog would be easier wont it?

California has bull shit smog laws almost solely because General Motors and Ford motors company( probably several others ), have both spent MILLIONS of dollars funding lobbyists. The purpose of smog law is not to reduce emissions in the air, it is to remove older cars from the streets, because once a car fails smog, most people just go down and buy a new car.

How many states have visual inspection? CA only? I'm not certian any other state will tell you to pop your hood for a smog. I'm pretty sure that CA is the only state (as of ~2 years ago) to require cars to be put on a dyno just to do a smog check, which since every gas station had to go out and buy that $80,000 peice of eqipment, its not uncommon to find people charging $80-$120 JUST to smog check your car.

Also I hear about 6 months ago we amended the NOX test to include all cars between 1995 and 1973 to pass that emissions. Of course catcons were not built to reduce nox untill AFTER 1995 That means you will probably have to throw down a few hundred bucks for a new 7 metal converter on your next smog check. So far I the only car I know of personaly that has PASSED smog (with out a new catcon) after that was a 1990 toyota previa. Again, this is not to reduce emissions, this is to encourage people to junk their 10 year old cars and go buy new ones.

Lets not forget the difference between a smog leagal header and an illegal header, (a $200 sticker).

Moral of the story, don't own a car in california, big money will just keep buying new laws.

In answer to your question, you might be able to pass smog, but if you get stung and the police tell you to pop your hood (after the turbo is installed), you're going to have a several thousand dollar trip to the smog ref on your hands.

EDIT: Also I personaly wouldn't change your rear end gear ratio unless you're planning on a track car, with 4.3 your top speed (redline 5th gear) will probably be about 105, and you'll be revving 4000rpm's in 5th gear at 65mph, kiss your fuel efficency and hearing good bye.

[GT500916]

Thank you everyone for your replies. So here is what im gonna do, and i would like to see those in CA with smog knowledge to reply to this as well and tell me what they thing.

OK so first, ill do stuff to my car without messing with the smog regulations crap. Ill put the LSD in, get some nice wider rims and tires for better traction.

I will put in a new clutch and a nice light aluminum flywheel. I will take off my crappy belt powered belt and put in an electric fan. Then put new exhaust on and an intake and ill be good to go with plenty of power to play with and will pass smog with no problems i dont think, right?! So lets assume thats right

Then, i will rebuild the engine from the inside, new rings new pistons with low copression for turbo to be put on. I will put on the Greddy turbo (by the way how do you adjust the PSI?) im looking to push 15psi with my rebuild engine.

Now, i rear up more about turbos and people who had them in CA and i have found that majoroty of the people pass with turbos, but they fail the visual tests. I think thats crap because the cars run clean but they just dont like the pipes there or something stupid. So i was thinking ill paint my Intercooler pipes simi black that way it wont stand out as much to cops when(IF) they pop the good, they will think its part of the car if they are stupid enough.

Another thing im thinking is when ready to smog ill take it to a cheap smog place where they dont really give a crap as long as you pay them money haha.

Then i can also swap back in my stock header and my stock exhaust and i think ill be good to go as far as smog passing goes. Now,....

I can get pulled over and the cop can ask me to check under the hood and people are saying that i can get a fine for having mods? Well Greddy turbo has a sticker on their kits that says "50 state legal" so as long as thats there i should be good? RIGHT?!

California is the worst about smog crap!! Why cant it hurry up and be like year 2050 something so my 240 will be considered as a classic car with no regulations like my 67 mustang hahah, i can do anything to that. Before i rebuild the engine i was sitting in front of 2 cops puffing smoke out of my exhaust like crazy and there is nothing they could do hahaha,

Thanks for your replies guys.

[KenOhki2112]

50 state legal means that the device opperates within the emissons standards, it will pass a smog test, but in CA you will still probably fail visual inspection because the Turbo charger is NOT offered as a factory option.

As for the cops, if you say get pulled over for speeding, they probably won't have you pop the hood, and if they did they probably won't know any better. However, in CA police often run sting operations, mostly targeted against large gatherings of people who are meeting up for some illegal street racing. If you get burned there, they WILL tell you to pop your hood, and usualy they are trained to the extent that they will know more about your car than you do.

Also, that classic car thing? that stopped at 1972, and it will not (under the current law) EVER include cars built in 1973 or later.
EDIT: This is why we have a 1972 455ho Trans Am in our garage, 13.12@ 118 and counting. =D

Good luck finding some one to pass the car ignoring visual, I'm sure there are people, but they are so strict on the penaltys for bribing your way through a smog check, most people have stopped doing that.

Pretty much your only option is to wait for your next smog check, THEN do all the work, don't get caught on the street, and then take that turbo back off in 2 years for your next smog. =(

[mynismo]

what i don't get is that a bunch of cars in magazines in california that have valid license plates.... and have sr20's inside

[mrflip69]

The classic car thing is a rolling 30 year exemption. I've been seeing more and more restored 280z(x)s around lately. I wonder why... currently it's at 73, next year 74, etc. etc. Still way too long before even the S13 gets legal.

50 state legal, then there's CARB exempt, which have executive orders issued by the Air Resource Board and allow things like turbos and... intakes... to be installed legally and still pass emissions.

2,500 miles and no smog... I drive about that much anyway, can you post a link to where you found that? I can't see it anywhere on DMV's page, and I've searched. Make sure it's www.dmv.ca.gov

[GT500916]

I have been trying to find that 2,500 miles a year things and then you dont have to smog the car, but i havent had any luck. I thought i saved that. I might have made a mistake and misread something. I will keep looking and if i come accross it again i will put it up.

To asnwer that question about the cars in CA with plates and having SR20s in them, maybe thats the 2,500 miles a year deal, they are only for show and they rarely drive them.