Regarding Emissions,has anyone had run ins with the Law?

[Chuck-75]

now that most states have smog checks, or inspections.has anyone had run ins with a peace officer?,
here in CA. Im upgrading to a HP engine with side pipes, (no smog pump,or cats.)I have a 75 vert and I dont have to have yearly smog checks, but Ive been told that If I get pulled over by a smart officer,he can write me up?
the law states that I dont have to go through any inspection proces or smog checks each year to register the car... but that the car needs to have all the original emmissions equipment...
So has anyone had a run in with a peace officer?, and if so what happened?,
by the way how offten does/would this ocure?. (by the way those that have had run ins? were ya smoking Da tires at Da time????),
Save the Wave.

 

[81 Corvette]

no smog checks in my county. There are three or four counties in OH that do checks, but only on cars younger then 25.

Mine turns twenty five next year so if they bring em to my county, no problem for me.

I doubt an officer would look here tho. I don't know how he could force you to pop your hood. Wouldn't that be an unlawful search????

 

[craig32]

"probable Cause". . . . .

 

[Daryllawman]

No problem here........Knock on wood.....

 

[JOE BYRNE]

anything over 25 in ne Ohio is not required and the police could care less. I bought a set of 73 plates and the state registered them to the car.

 

[dfw81shark]

I have a 79 camaro along with my 81 vette, and I asked the inspector when I was doing the camaro a couple weeks ago what the cutoff year is for 2005 since I live in an emission county. His quote for the vette was "you can now run straight pipes in that bad boy." I don't think there is alot of truth to that, as Texas law states you have to have the OE stuff on there. He seemed to think it was ok to tear it off. But I've heard in other forums that they can't touch you if you remove the oem junk. I am running sidepipes, hope I don't get busted.

He also said they don't check if you have the equipment on the car unless it was made after 1984.

 

[74bigblock]

Here in the Chicago area... everything has to go to emissions check with exception to "Antique Vehicles" that are properly registered with the AV license plate. These AV cars are "supposed to" be driven under 1000 miles per year, and only to and from "event" type gatherings.


With that said... I am running side pipes that are definately not stock. To further worsen matters, I recently removed the glass pack mufflers and am running the side pipes wide open (Hookers). My car is registered as an AV. I put just over 2000 miles on her this summer.... took many cruises to many places, most of which had nothing to do with events of any sort (unless you count me dropping the hammer as an event). Durring all this time I was never pulled over once, looked at strangely, or questioned in any way by any authority (except for my Girlfriend... when she heard the open headers I got a dirty look, but I told her I was doing it before I did it so what is her prob right?).

I would think that with all the tree huggers and what not you have out in CA, you might not find things as flexable as they are here in the Midwest.

I say do whatchya gotta do. Worst case scenario... you get a little ticket.

Good Luck!
Dave

 

[dfw81shark]

I say do whatchya gotta do. Worst case scenario... you get a little ticket.

Good Luck!
Dave

Our "little ticket" is a maximum of $25,000. I'm sure they'll let you slide a bit the first time, but I can't pony up that much money.

 

[bob_robert]

You might check out this site for info about TX emissions inspection criteria. http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/act.htm

 

[L82Dan]

My response would be that every state has their own "rules" concerning emission laws violations. In Cook County, IL (that would be Chicago and it's suburbs), I have never heard or read about any one being pulled over for possible missing emissions equipment. I don't believe that local enforcement is equiped or trained to determine that in the field. I've been to what is called here in my town as the Citizen Police Academy classes, and they did not discuss or even mention anything about checking vehicles for emissions violations. That is the sole responsibility of the Secretary of State in Illinois. Now, if you fail to have your vehicle inspected and tested when they send out the notices, then, yes, you will be severely dealt with, like having your plates suspended and now they are suspending driver licenses! You don't want to miss your testing date! My car is complete stock, so I really don't think about it much. I have also seen cars at car shows here in the area, that display "exemption" emission stickers, but I don't know the requirements for getting one. I'm sure that they are "very" specific. As others have already said, I would inquire to your state office that is in charge of those tests and ask for the rules. That's the best way to avoid trouble that you don't want. It might just be a ticket, but try telling that to the insurance company. Remember, there are forces out there, that want to destroy our hobby by passing laws making it legal to take our classic cars off the roads and crush them, just because of their age and their poluting capabilities. Don't give any more incentive to get their way.

 

[lucky76]

It cost $12.50 for an inspection down here. They drive it around the building, blow the horn, turn on the wipers, hit the brakes, check that all lights work and slap a sticker on it. For some reason they don't even check the headlights anymore to see if their aimed correctly, just if they work dim and high beam. No tail pipe smog checks out of the cities. I love it.

 

[Chuck-75]

Thanks for the posts everyone. but I was interested in knowing if anyone that (like myself,has removed there emision equipment,and there state or county which has no inspection or smog check requirements for there yr vette. (like in Ca. 75 and earliear doesnt have to get smog checks) but does require that you have the original smog stuff still in place).. has anyone had an experience with the law?Ive been told by the auto repair burieau here in calif that they can only write you a fixit ticket... (ya know fix the problem and then just have anoughter officer sign off that the repairs were done).

here in calif if yr registration isnt current or you dont have ins. they will tow yr car on the spot. and the official for emmisions here in Ca. told me that the law is kind of confusing,and that in reality know one is sure of what is supossed to happen if you get pulled over by a knowlegable cop...but he said that it should just be a fix-it ticket....
So just to be safe. when I install the new motor this spring Ill lose the side pipes and run a stock appearing car.
But is it possible to make a sleeper out of a Corvette? a 75 convertable?.Thanks again all, Save the wave

 

[Blue82]

Lucky76, they stopped checking the headlight adjustment because it became a racket. They would always be out of adjustment and would charge $5 per light to correct it or the car failed.

 

[PigPen]

The law you have to worry about is the Federal EPA Clean Air Act. It states that you can not mess with the original emissions equipment. For cars with cats, you cannot alter anything from the cat forward. Fines for these type of EPA violations used to be a max of $25,000 per day per violation, now it's $34,500 I believe. So even though the state may not inspect, the Feds expect you to leave things intact.
A cop could pull you over, look underneath, see not cat, and BAM! Not likely to happen to you because classic vettes get respect, but it's a remote possibility, and you would probably never get the maximum fine ($34,500 per day, multiplied by the number of days adds up quick). Some cops in my area (SoCal) are wise to this, but they seem to nail the ricers only. I read a story here recently where the cops hit a few ricers with FedEPA violations and heavy fines.