Need some input on how to pass calif smog

[sponsoredbydad]

I've got a 1980 computer controlled carb with not really much on the computer controlled side of it. It's in a El Camino with a Buick V6. Its running rich so I found out how mod the carb to get to the sealed air/fuel needles and am messing around with those but is there something with the timing I could or should be doing as well? It's got a new O2 sensor. plugs, wires, and freshen up exhaust/muffler.

 

[K85 Octane]

Sorry bud
I s*** canned all my CCC stuff in favor for a regular carb and dizzy. Then I dummy wired all the emissions stuff, even JB welded a bolt head/with shank to the flat front of the carb and ran an emission hose to it. Worked great and what do you know....it passes no problem

Do you have the knock sensor too? Some of the more clusterfrocked stuff will retard timing, but the basic computer carb shouldn't (IIRC)

 

[paratrooper307]

California is a pain. Not only do you have to pass the smog but the visual as well. They can fail a vehicle for any modifications to the emissions system, and also if the timing you are running is set different than stock. How nitpicky they are often depends on what inspector you're dealing with.

 

[bubba blazer]

California is a pain. Not only do you have to pass the smog but the visual as well. They can fail a vehicle for any modifications to the emissions system, and also if the timing you are running is set different than stock. How nitpicky they are often depends on what inspector you're dealing with.

^^This

if the vehicle is running rich it sounds like you're on the right track by sealing the quadrajet plugs. might want to also check floats, rods, jets, bad gaskets, warped body, vacuum lines and all connections...Timing will affect your NOx levels, not too much the CO or H so ask for a pre-check first. (Hopefully, your piston rings and valves are all sealing properly).

As stated by paratrooper - getting to pass will also depend on the smog technician and also how much experience they have in the older vehicles. I've left a shop when the tech guy flat out told me that he didn't have a clue...most of them nowadays are plug/play types with the OBDII (& higher) which is almost 20 years old. So that 30yo tech may have never even touched a carb before...

PS: if you have to replace the cat, be careful - the wrong one can actually make your vehicle fail.

 

[dyeager535]

Save yourself a bunch of hassle. Find an El Camino or Monte that was 4.3L from 1985-1988, and convert yours to TBI.

CCC is garbage, it will always be garbage, it is truly not worth five minutes of your time or 10 dollars to fix. Ok, that might be a HAIR extreme, but you'll need the factory service manual to make sure all the various stuff on it is correct. I don't believe even the idle mix screws have the same effect as they did on non-CCC variants.

I spent a fair bit of time and money accruing CCC parts for my car, only to decide later that since the parts to inject it are available (thanks to the TBI 4.3 used in these cars) it makes a whole lot more sense to do injection, instead of use CCC, which gives you the complexity of TBI, all with a carburetor. Worst of both worlds.

 

[ktmoutfront]

I moved out of California. Problems solved.

 

[samsterman99]

When I was in California, I paid some guy in downtown LA 150$ to pass my
K5. Mine was a CCC quadrajet as well, and I just have up hope on it

 

[scottsdale86]

Technically you need everything the donor Buick v6 had on it when it left the factory for it to pass. Now that said I would see if you have a ca emissions el caminonor a federal emissions truck. It does make a big difference. You can run a federal emission non ccc on that v6 and get it to pass with ease if you don't have any mention of the computer on the radiator decal. They go by that anyway. That is what I did with my 86 k10. Ditched the ccc for a non ccc and turned the timing to 4 degrees and hooked up all the vacuum lines correctly with a new cat and good tune up and it passed by a lot.

 

[sponsoredbydad]

Moving is not an option
Went last night for a pre-test and everything was good except for the "co". I I think my EGR valve is not working so I'm going to replace it and re-test.

 

[scottsdale86]

Yeah replace the egr with a OE one and run some of this http://rxpfuel.com/ though it and drive it around for a while before you take it in for the emissions test. Seemed to lower my emissions substantially.