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Thunderbird Club

#218,702
dagrev said:
I'm not so sure piston sleeves could be on the list! At least once any way.
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You can do almost everything yourself on those cars:
0F7C1509-5E36-499A-A988-A37F4CA153C3.jpeg
 
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#218,704
Stealth57 said:
The 91 Stealth TT I raced was a great example of OBDI. You could mod the 7ell out of it and never throw a code. Bad news was it had all the vacuum lines plus all the computer circuits. Good luck troubleshooting.
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My '89 Supra was the same way. But, since I wasn't living in CA at the time......a few JDM parts & aftermarket bits later, vacuum hoses & OBD-1 (and EGR ....) was no longer an issue :D



One (several?) of my favorite things about my Suburban - Diesel, so no vacuum anything (other than the belt-driven pump for the turbo wastegate control), k2500 so no EGR/cat/o2 sensors, pre-1998 so no CA smog checks :thumbsup:
 
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#218,705
KaraQ said:
My '89 Supra was the same way. But, since I wasn't living in CA at the time......a few JDM parts & aftermarket bits later, vacuum hoses & OBD-1 (and EGR ....) was no longer an issue :D



One (several?) of my favorite things about my Suburban - Diesel, so no vacuum anything (other than the belt-driven pump for the turbo wastegate control), k2500 so no EGR/cat/o2 sensors, pre-1998 so no CA smog checks :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
EGR, you funny :laugh:

1C1D85B4-4967-4900-BD40-7432D624A3F3.jpeg


P.S. there are some counties in CA that don’t require smog tests. Fortunately, my brother lived in one.
 
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#218,707
KaraQ said:
My '89 Supra was the same way. But, since I wasn't living in CA at the time......a few JDM parts & aftermarket bits later, vacuum hoses & OBD-1 (and EGR ....) was no longer an issue :D



One (several?) of my favorite things about my Suburban - Diesel, so no vacuum anything (other than the belt-driven pump for the turbo wastegate control), k2500 so no EGR/cat/o2 sensors, pre-1998 so no CA smog checks :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Keep the Suburban forever!
 
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#218,709
Stealth57 said:
EGR, you funny :laugh:

View attachment 4788652

P.S. there are some counties in CA that don’t require smog tests. Fortunately, my brother lived in one.
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Is Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET as it was called here) still a thing in CA? Our's had the plug pulled after over a decade. It was required if you lived in the county (most populous), but not if you drove and worked here. As cars had better emissions hardly anyone failed and it was just a money making thing for the powers that be and the company who got the bid to do the testing. Older cars I had were no more likely to get flagged than newer ones with all the emissions junk. It was always funny to see cars burning oil or diesels smoking like crazy pass the test. (Obviously looking for other aspects of emissions, but still funny to see.) People finally were heard by county officials and it was disbanded. We used to have annual testing to ensure various parts of vehicles were in working order (tires had tread, all lights were present and worked, horn, wipers, bumpers and other parts were on and other basics). This was actually helpful as it helped to keep a number of cars that were unsafe or not roadworthy off the streets. That they got rid of this for the VET testing.
 
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#218,710
dagrev said:
Is Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET as it was called here) still a thing in CA? Our's had the plug pulled after over a decade. It was required if you lived in the county (most populous), but not if you drove and worked here. As cars had better emissions hardly anyone failed and it was just a money making thing for the powers that be and the company who got the bid to do the testing. Older cars I had were no more likely to get flagged than newer ones with all the emissions junk. It was always funny to see cars burning oil or diesels smoking like crazy pass the test. (Obviously looking for other aspects of emissions, but still funny to see.) People finally were heard by county officials and it was disbanded. We used to have annual testing to ensure various parts of vehicles were in working order (tires had tread, all lights were present and worked, horn, wipers, bumpers and other parts were on and other basics). This was actually helpful as it helped to keep a number of cars that were unsafe or not roadworthy off the streets. That they got rid of this for the VET testing.
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We started with tail pipe tests. Then the dyno companies bought off the politicians so anything less than a 4WD had to go on a dyno. That put a lot of smog stations out of business due to cost. Now, all they do is plug into OBDII and ask the car if it passes. Then cars started lying…but, yes, still have biannual smog tests in most of CA. Oh, we also so have a visual inspection. If your aftermarket parts don’t have a CARB sticker you fail.
 
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#218,714
Stealth57 said:
We started with tail pipe tests. Then the dyno companies bought off the politicians so anything less than a 4WD had to go on a dyno. That put a lot of smog stations out of business due to cost. Now, all they do is plug into OBDII and ask the car if it passes. Then cars started lying…but, yes, still have biannual smog tests in most of CA. Oh, we also so have a visual inspection. If your aftermarket parts don’t have a CARB sticker you fail.
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Interesting. Our test was both idle and then dyno with sensor in the tailpipe.
 
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#218,716
dagrev said:
I'm not so sure piston sleeves could be on the list! At least once any way.
Click to expand...
Probably should add Helicoils for the cylinder head bolts. I’ve blown the heads off of more than one VW bug.

Engle said:
You can do almost everything yourself on those cars:
View attachment 4788603
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LOL - can’t remember how many times I laid awake in bed thinking about the best way to fix my VW Bug. Of course that was before the internet and YouTube, where you can pretty much get instant answers. Back then it was a Chiltons manual, remember those…
s-l500.jpg



Stealth57 said:
We started with tail pipe tests. Then the dyno companies bought off the politicians so anything less than a 4WD had to go on a dyno. That put a lot of smog stations out of business due to cost. Now, all they do is plug into OBDII and ask the car if it passes. Then cars started lying…but, yes, still have biannual smog tests in most of CA. Oh, we also so have a visual inspection. If your aftermarket parts don’t have a CARB sticker you fail.
Click to expand...
Don’t forget the dreaded “check engine” light. If it’s on you automatically fail regardless of what it is.
Several years ago when I was buying my 1997 911 from a friend we had agreed on the price and the day before I went to pick it up the check engine light came on.

Apparently, in CA if the check engine light is “on” the smog test is failed and the car can only be sold as a salvage vehicle. Neither of us wanted that. So off to the mechanics it went. Turns out the Secondary Air Intakes were fouled up (tiny little passages that allow a percentage of the exhaust to renter the combustion chamber for a second burn. It’s a stupid design and a known problem area. It does not impact the performance or function of the car in any way but it’s a smog system so it has to work to pass the test required at the time of sale. Could have probably rodded it out with a bit of finesse and a few hundred bucks in labor, but then it’s only a matter of time before it returns. The seller and I agreed to split the cost of doing it the right way - pulling the engine, sending the heads to a machine shop to have the secondary intakes reamed out and enlarged, replaced all the valves and completely went through the entire top end replacing everything that wasn’t at spec or was worn. $9000 later it didn’t run a bit better (already ran great), but no check engine light and has passed every smog test period since then. Goofy CA rules.
 
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