I was having a car inspected by a smog referee friend of mine when he told me that the big dogs in Sacremento now say JDM motors are acceptable in the State of California!! As long as there is a legitimate US counterpart for the JDM motor, using the US smog devices is O.K. But be careful, though JDM motors are legit, in the end it’s at the smog referee’s discression wether or not he’s going to pass you or not.
wth? why would state government allow that?? weird…
Re: GOOD NEWS for JDM motors in California!!!
Originally posted by JETSPD1477
As long as there is a legitimate US counterpart for the JDM motor
would that make the jdm b16 legal then because of the newer Si’s?
Re: Re: GOOD NEWS for JDM motors in California!!!
Originally posted by Justin
[B]
would that make the jdm b16 legal then because of the newer Si’s? [/B]
Prolly, or even 94+ Del Sol.
This is a definite plus in our favor.
Well when you find official documentation of this, please post it! I am really interested to see this!
oooohhh 
i likey
Originally posted by surge2k
Well when you find official documentation of this, please post it! I am really interested to see this!
there is offical documentation on the A.R.B. website.
what about frankenstein motors…
the head and the block were part of jdm motors? oh well…illegal smogs own me
peace
Jimmy
the way to pass the B16 Japan spec motor off at the REF is to have everything(vacum hoses, sensors, etc) the same as where the motor came from…for example…if you have a integra 1990 and you put a B16 in it, all you have to do is follow the smog equipment on a 1992-1993 B17 GSR …another example is the 92-95 honda civic, you put a b16 in it, copy the diagram from the del sol…thats what the smog refs look for…they have to refer to the next closes chassis to make sure all the smog equipment matches up…my bro did it in his car at the ref and had to go back 2 times…the ref gave him a couple of sheets to follow in order to make it pass…HTH any of you who are trying to get the car to pass LEGALLY =)
ahhhh…good news to everyone in cali…finally…now its time to save for them jdm motors!..haha…
can anyone show me the document and the web site, couldn’t find it. thanks!!
don’t get your hopes up you guys. i’m not sure how much lookin you guys have done to see how difficult it would be to swap in a b16a2 or b16a3 (the engine you’d try and say the b16a was identical to). Getting even a stock usdm b16a2 or b16a3 to pass in your G2 could be VERY difficult. It basically depends on how tough the smog ref decides to me. There are MANY technicalities he can get you on. First off you’d need to run obd1 or obd2 (depending on what motor you said it was), this isn’t a problem for 92-93 tegs, but isn’t so kind on us 90-91 dudes. Also, the tranny you use will have to be the hydro tranny that comes stock with the b16a2 or b16a3 (yes, this is a rule, there is a good chance they’ll ignore it, or not even look… but if they do, and if they care, you will fail). There are also other technicalities they can get you on, but might not. To anyone planning a smog legal swap in cali i highly suggest you talk to a smog ref. It can be a pain in the ass getting ahold of one, but its worth it. Just make sure you don’t give him your exact plans for your swap. instead use generalizations and pick his brain about what he knows and what kind of stuff he’s gonna look for. My local smog ref knows his stuff! he knows all about honda swaps and all the stuff people usually try to pull over his eyes… i get the feeling most refs are going to be like this.
also, as far as the ls/vtec goes. Its illegal, and there is no way around it. The law says that you can’ t mix and match parts. The engine you swap in must be exactly the same as how it came from the factory. Thus if you have a b18c1 block it has to have a b18c1 head, if you have a b18a1 head it has to have a b18a1 head…etc…etc and the same thing goes for all sensors, intake manifolds, and transmissions.
Does this new law have any impact on those of us who want to put a USDM B18C1 into a non-OBD (90-91) integra in Cali?
Originally posted by kennshin24
Does this new law have any impact on those of us who want to put a USDM B18C1 into a non-OBD (90-91) integra in Cali?
no. however, you could get a jdm b18c and pass it off as a b18c1 (they probably wouldn’t know that the compression ratio’s are different and other than that they are pretty much the same i think). read my post again and you’ll realize that getting a b18c1 to pass in your G2 isn’t so easy. Getting it to pass in your 92-93 could pose some difficulty, but with some luck you can do it fairly easily. But in a 90-91 it posses some more problems.
now, as a side note. I was recently talking with my uncle (works for an engineering firm in LA that does some work with Honda, Buell, Chip Ganassi Racing and some others. He mentioned that a new law is in the process of being passed. It says that you can choose to ref the motor as either the diagnostic system of the motor OR the diagnostic system of the car! Meaning that you could choose to pass it as non obd. However, this only gets rid of one of the handful of problems. Plus, the law isn’t passed yet. And to top it all off they are only going to offer this choice to a certain number of people each year… first come first serve.
Personally i think getting a b18c1 to pass in a 90-91 is too hard. I talked to a local smog ref about it and he pretty much crushed my dreams of having a poorman’s itr or even a b18c1 swap. It can be done… but it probably won’t be easy. Smog reasons alone are why i opted for the b17a. Probably equal in price to a b18c1, but with the b17a the only obstacle you have is with switching to obd1. So, hopefully that doesn’t turn out to be too hard (crosses fingers). If all goes well i should have my swap in by the end of september. And i’m up for smog next june, and i plan on keeping everyone posted on my progress.
the best thing to do is move to Seattle! 
they don’t pop your hood during Emissions testing and don’t get in your car. 
bwahahahahaha
Originally posted by 92GS-R
[B]the best thing to do is move to Seattle!they don’t pop your hood during Emissions testing and don’t get in your car.
bwahahahahaha [/B]
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
Originally posted by B18A93
[B]
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: [/B]
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
re: smog ls/vtec
If emissions weren’t an issue, what would you do to your motor aside from the ls/vtec? Basically, no holds bar, no rules apply (except for of course not having an infinite amount of cash).
Originally posted by 92GS-R
[B]the best thing to do is move to Seattle!
bwahahahahaha [/B]
I wish we had that luxury for our emissions… 
Whats an emissions test:confused: