After talking with a SMOG test guy, I think it is probably about time that I look into getting some modifications OK'ed by the state so as to (ideally) avoid swapping a bunch of parts every 2 years. None of it is terribly wild, just visually non-stock. According to the SMOG guy and a couple of people I know who have dealt with referees, it sounds like they are generally strict but fair. I'd like to hear about r3v'ers' experiences in CA with the referees.
The main points, I think, are that the tail pipe sniffer test passes very cleanly, and there is an O2 sensor in the factory location.
What all got modified that I want to try to get signed-off?
1) COP ignition conversion. The SMOG guy said that this was the main visual red-flag since the coils are supposed to be on the fender, not the cylinder head. He also said that he was 99% sure that a referee would OK the change since it probably makes the car burn cleaner, if anything.
2) MAF conversion + M30 air box. I developed a custom signal processor box to convert the MAF signal to the equivalent AFM signal, and the stock ECU runs perfectly with it. AFM's are no longer produced, remanufactured ones are hundreds of dollars, and they are generally inaccurate (meaning worse emissions). The MAF is super fast and dead-accurate. Also, I made an E34 M30 air filter box fit in there. The top of it is carefully modified to accept the MAF, which uses the stock intake boot. I am using it because it has 60% more filter surface area than the stock M42 one.
3) "Pulse chamber" intake manifold. It is a stock M42 upper manifold, but with capped aluminum tubes welded in at the tangent of the "C" runners. It improves mid-range torque with how it is tuned to reflect pressure waves. This was something that Metric Mechanic developed.
4) Wide-band O2 sensor. I am guessing that this would be a hard one to get OK'ed since it has the potential to directly affect emissions. I would not even mention it, so the guy would have to really be looking (the controller is very small and zip-tied under the battery tray where the factory O2 connector is). It is a Spartan SLC from 14point7, and it is not even programmable, so there's no way to make it lie to the ECU, but I am not sure how trusting the referees are.
Other than that, the full evap system is in there and functional, the PCV system is present and functional, the mess-under-the-intake is deleted (but the TB heater plate is still there as a spacer, just not connected to anything), spark plugs are stock, exhaust is stock until after the cat (SuperSprint cat-back behind it), zero vacuum leaks and there are no CEL codes at all.
Also, and this would not get mentioned...it's a 2.1L M42 running 11.5:1 compression. I had Metric Mechanic build it back in 2012. Zero of the internals are stock (literally, not even the oil pump rotors are stock M42 parts). Visually it looks like an E30 M42, minus the stuff I mentioned above. Unless the guy can magically hear a difference, I can't imagine why it would come up.
Thoughts? Am I inviting more trouble than solutions by going to the referee? Or should I swap everything back to stock except the COP ignition (since it is almost impossible to put it back to stock) and then try to get that OK'ed on its own?
The main points, I think, are that the tail pipe sniffer test passes very cleanly, and there is an O2 sensor in the factory location.
What all got modified that I want to try to get signed-off?
1) COP ignition conversion. The SMOG guy said that this was the main visual red-flag since the coils are supposed to be on the fender, not the cylinder head. He also said that he was 99% sure that a referee would OK the change since it probably makes the car burn cleaner, if anything.
2) MAF conversion + M30 air box. I developed a custom signal processor box to convert the MAF signal to the equivalent AFM signal, and the stock ECU runs perfectly with it. AFM's are no longer produced, remanufactured ones are hundreds of dollars, and they are generally inaccurate (meaning worse emissions). The MAF is super fast and dead-accurate. Also, I made an E34 M30 air filter box fit in there. The top of it is carefully modified to accept the MAF, which uses the stock intake boot. I am using it because it has 60% more filter surface area than the stock M42 one.
3) "Pulse chamber" intake manifold. It is a stock M42 upper manifold, but with capped aluminum tubes welded in at the tangent of the "C" runners. It improves mid-range torque with how it is tuned to reflect pressure waves. This was something that Metric Mechanic developed.
4) Wide-band O2 sensor. I am guessing that this would be a hard one to get OK'ed since it has the potential to directly affect emissions. I would not even mention it, so the guy would have to really be looking (the controller is very small and zip-tied under the battery tray where the factory O2 connector is). It is a Spartan SLC from 14point7, and it is not even programmable, so there's no way to make it lie to the ECU, but I am not sure how trusting the referees are.
Other than that, the full evap system is in there and functional, the PCV system is present and functional, the mess-under-the-intake is deleted (but the TB heater plate is still there as a spacer, just not connected to anything), spark plugs are stock, exhaust is stock until after the cat (SuperSprint cat-back behind it), zero vacuum leaks and there are no CEL codes at all.
Also, and this would not get mentioned...it's a 2.1L M42 running 11.5:1 compression. I had Metric Mechanic build it back in 2012. Zero of the internals are stock (literally, not even the oil pump rotors are stock M42 parts). Visually it looks like an E30 M42, minus the stuff I mentioned above. Unless the guy can magically hear a difference, I can't imagine why it would come up.
Thoughts? Am I inviting more trouble than solutions by going to the referee? Or should I swap everything back to stock except the COP ignition (since it is almost impossible to put it back to stock) and then try to get that OK'ed on its own?
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