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california emmissions? Wrong truck?

T

TwistedSkipper

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I have an '83 k5, and was intending to put a lot of time and money upgrading it; all new front end parts, I want to buy a 350 block and engine kit from Summit and build a kick-!#$ motor, as mine is leaking pretty bad. I am moving to California in a year and I am worried about the smog regulations. Should I be doing this to pre-1976 blazer to bypass this tree hugging hippy law?
 
Saw your apology, ha ha! I'm pretty sure no one was offended. Anyway, first, welcome to the site. Second, you might have to wait longer than 25 minutes to get a reply, sometimes it takes a day or so. Remember, it's midnight, or later right now, not much activity around here. Anyway, yeah, you should do what you're planning with a '76 or earlier Blazer, otherwise you'll have to make sure your Badazz '83 can pass Cal smog. I have a '73, so I don't have to worry about smog, and as a cosequence, I don't know exactly what it required. If you stay with the '83, you'll need to add A.I.R. injection, and anything not stock that you put on it will need to have a C.A.R.B. EO# to be legal on a pollution controlled vehicle in the state. That's about all I know. Hope it helps.
 
you can put in a crate engine as long as it has all the original smog equipt and as long as it was a factory option for that year in that vehicle (this is what I think I know, take it for what its worth)
 
Unless your really attached to your '83 and feel like doing a ton of extra work get rid of it and get yourself a pre '76. I have a '85 K10 and it has definately caused problems financially and stress wise. I have it passing now but it sure would be nice to not have to worry about it. By the way welcome to Cali. where are you moving to?

-Avery
 
so how would that work on a truck that has no smog equiped from factory? I know my truck has the Cali smog equip package. but not every one of them had that right? do you have to order a smog package for it?

sorry if i am hijacking:rolleyes:
 
As longs as the truck has the correct O.E.M stuff and is running well you should be ok. CA's emission crap is out of control. I'm just about ready to move out of CA for this reason.

Kelvin
 
Just to be clear, I think the vehicle has to be 1975 or older. 75 was when they added catalytic convertors right? I just read through all the new smog regs since I was going to buy a 76. They just recently changed things around, so check it before spending any money on a motor.

Essentially, if the truck has stickers or any info inside the hood detailing what the smog equipment is, the technician will make sure all of the listed equipment is installed properly. An '85 anything in california sounds like trouble from. I used to build vw's and had similar problems.

You should check what an older truck costs and compare that to figuring out what it'll cost to bring your '85 into compliance. Good luck!

Here's an excerpt from the CA DMV:

"Beginning April 1, 2005, the 30-year rolling exemption has been repealed. Instead, vehicles 1975 model-year and older will be exempt. Therefore, 1976 model-year and newer vehicles will continue to be subject to biennial inspection indefinitely." -end quote
 
You can put any motor from any like vehicle into your truck provided it is the same year or newer and has all of the emmissions equipment installed and operating. One thing about California is that they classify K5s as Passenger Vehicles not trucks. So on theory if you wanted you could put any motor from any GM passenger car or SUV into your K5:D . If you want to put a crate motor in just transfer all of your accessories and exhaust manifolds over to the crate motor then all you have to worry about is the sniffer. If it is built right and running right it should have no problem passing the sniffer with a cat installed.

Ira
 
When I lived in CA back in the 90s, I went thru this crap. Had a 20 year old F350 with a wore out motor. I put a larger in it and then went to get it smogged. If it had been a 390 truck, it would have passed. BUT it was originally a 360 truck, so the emission standards were more strict. What I remember about the laws was pretty simple-you can swap motors, but the vehicle must meet the standards of the OE engine package.:mad:
 
mostwanted said:
even if your vehicle is emissions "ready" prepare to pay a fee to bring it in from out of state.
Click to expand...

That law was revoked a while back and DMV had to refund thousands of dollars to people who had paid the $300.00 impact fee. He will however need to have the vehicle inspected for proper emissions equipment and i think a brake and lamp inspection then pay any fees for california stickers and plates.
 
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