So recently I decided to go ahead with turbocharging my 280zx l28e. It's the NA engine and I know most people rather swap in the turbo engine instead of sourcing all the parts needed. But I don't mind piecing the parts together.

So after tons of researching on what is needed and how I should go about this project, I was hit with the issue of getting it smogged after it is all said and done. A friend of mine warned me that even if my car will pass the emissions tests, the visual inspection will be failed with no chance. He said that changing even the fuel rail to an aftermarket rail will catch the tech's eye and he'll fail me.

I've looked all over and can't find the answer to this problem. Is it true that you can fail the visual by just having an aftermarket fuel rail? And if that's true, how on earth do you get away with an aftermarket turbo with all the piping and intercooler ect. ect.? If anyone can shed light onto this I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

they will probably send you to a smog ref who will have to re-certify your car, just make sure you get all the bugs out of the system before you have it smogged..

 

I have a Pallnet fuel rail on my '82 Turbo, and the state ref didn't have a problem with that. I'm actually considering an engine swap, so if you might be interested in a lightly modded, relatively low mileage turbo engine (sub-100k miles)...

 

the visual is looking for changes to the cat and egr system and o2 sensors and othe r cali smog stuff......notcher mods..........we cali outlaWS USED TO ENJOY THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR CARS OVER SMOG SPEC oops .......so some would "fix" the cat so there was none.......better performance------so just maKWE SURE ALL YER CALI EMISSIONoops "crap" is there.....not modified or removed....

 

Thanks for the help guys. So basically I will be fine if I stick with the stock emissions parts and not mess with anything that will effect the emissions? Does that include adding a system like Megasquirt since you are able to change fuel/air ratios which will effect the emissions?

Thanks again guys.

 

damn tree hugging laws

 

i cant believe how rediculous it is out in california... especially with that crushing car nonsense. sorry for your troubles man

 

Hold on....we're talking about a car that was made between '79-'83 right? So, even if you have an '83, the car is 24 years old....and CA still smogs 'em? Sheesh!

 

I think aftermarket engine management would fail, but since that's usually hidden away, I don't think they'd notice as long as it passes.


Yup, they stopped the rolling smog exempt years thing. The cut off was like 1974 or 1975.

 

its 74, and i also hear they are trying to destroy cars older than obdI or something like that.... idk.

oh yeah, and i sourced my parts and turbo'ed my l28e.... and it sucks *****. you chance soo much piecing parts together from other cars, mine ran first try, sept with my piecing together, my car wont run if its very humid or if it gets rained on, and since i pieced it together, i cant tell for sure if its the ECU of the distributor.

 

Unfortunately, the turbo, exhaust manifold (if other than factory), intake, intercooler, MAF (if you convert) ALL affect the emissions of the vehicle in the eyes of the law (aka CARB) if it was not original equipment on that motor. Otherwise, AEM/APS/JWT/Jackson Racing wouldn't have to get their turbo kits smog certified if you could just slap on a turbo and get away with it.

This is why swapping a turbo motor from a turbo car into your car is easier. All that stuff was originally on that motor from the factory. The ref can pass it as a "replacement" motor rather than a "motor swap". You say swap in front of the wrong person and you're on your way to the referee station.

Once it's been referee'd and you've got the magic sticker, then you can make small, non-smog impacting, improvements like a Pallnet fuel rail, etc.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

That's what I was worried about, but isn't finding a good condition turbo engine at a low price very unlikely? It seems they would all be picked over considering how they are in such high demand. I'm trying to weigh the price of conversion with the price of a whole swap. Keep in mind I wouldn't be using all of the stock turbo parts on the engine. I'll be changing the injectors and fuel rail, the turbo and intercooler, as well as the throttle body and fpr.

That's the only thing keeping me from doing the turbo swap, but it looks like I'm heading in that direction anyway in order to deal with the smogging issue.

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.

 

not really. just takes a bit of looking.

 

1976-----my dodge is exempt.............

 

idk zhag.... i heard cali lowered it to 74 just recently. look it up i could be wrong.

 

its 75 and newer that has to be smogged, i dont think i will ever have to get my lead added gasoline burning jeep to pass smog..

 

75 is exempt. 76 and newer need to be smogged...


Rod.

 

Rod beat me to it. Up to "Model Year 1975" is exempt from the annual smog check, not from being compliant with whatever smog equipment came on the vehicle from the factory when it was originally shipped.

That means, anyone with a 1st Gen Z running a '65 Chevy Small Block could get pulled over and sent to the referee for an illegal conversion.

If you replace a motor, make sure it's from the model year or newer than the chassis you're putting it in, has all the appropriate smog equipment for that year engine and make sure you get it referee'd. This is the only way to legally replace a motor in California. You can only "Update" a chassis with an equivalent model year or newer motor. You can NOT "Back date" to an older model year motor in your chassis.

Cheers,
LWW