What kind of paperwork do you need to do when swapping the engine? Do you need to get it changed with the DMV and get a smog test and all that inspection stuff? Please advise on all the legal issues and paperwork needed to be done on an engine swap, and the consequences or loopholes if not.
i’m probably going to get a b18c1 JDM with a lsd tranny.
thanks!!!
you don’t need receipts or anything for the engine, but if you have them you might as well bring them in, it might help the Ref think you’re a little more legit.
basically you have to go to a smog referee. If it all checks out he will give you a BAR sticker. The sticker is placed in your door jamb and will allow you to smog your car at normal smog stations --you just show it to them and it has all the info you need.
I’ll tell you right now that you won’t be able to pass a jdm b18c.
here are some rules of swaps in cali:
-engine must be the same year or newer than the vehicle its going in
-engine must be an engine which was produced for sale in the US, and California
-you must run the obd system of the engine (so if you have a 90-91 that means you’d need to convert to obd1)
-you cannot change the form in which the engine/tranny/obd was meant for sale (this means you must use the correct head, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, ecu, all smog and other sensors, as well as use the tranny meant for that engine)
There are also other technicalities, but i’m unaware of what exactly they are.
I"m sure some refs will be stricter than others. For example, some won’t really care if you use a cable tranny, they might not even notice. But others will check that you have the correct hydro tranny --if you don’t, you will fail.
but your main obstacle is the fact that the engine is jdm. This is not gonna fly with the ref. If somehow you can fool him into thinking its exactly the same as a b18c1 then you might be able to pull it off, but still i’m skeptical.
One thing that you need to know is that you shouldn’t plan on fooling the smog ref. I called my local smog ref and talked with him about swaps. I had originally thought that i could probably fool him on some of the little detials --well, turns out this guy knows more about hondas than most of us here on g2ic do. he said he was familiar w/ jdm swaps, and he does not pass them. He said he was familiar w/ people trying to swap heads (both ls/vtec and poorman’s itr) and said he checks for those things --if the engine isn’t the same as it was from the factory, you will fail. Also, the obd system, he checks this as well.
Talking with the smog ref made me switch from planning a poorman’s itr to planning a b17a swap. The only real obstacle i will have with swapping a b17a into my 91 is the obd issues --which don’t seem like they are gonna be that easy, but i’m gonna try.
-“A fedderally (EPA) certified engine cannot be used in a vehicle that was orignally certified for CA”
-“The installed engine and host chassis must retain all of their orignal emission control equipment”
-“Voiding the vehicle manufactures emission emission warranty is not allowed”
-“Dont mix the engine vehicle classifications (no 5.0’s in miatas)”
-“If a computer controlled engine is installed in a non-computerised vehicle, the check engine light, the OEM diagnostic link, and ALL SENSORS, switches, and wiring harnesses needed to make the system fully functional are required”
Call the Department of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-952-5210 and ask for publication #210 for this panphlet and the quidlines that the refferee uses to pass cars.
Originally posted by 91IntegGS
[B]you don’t need receipts or anything for the engine, but if you have them you might as well bring them in, it might help the Ref think you’re a little more legit.
but your main obstacle is the fact that the engine is jdm. This is not gonna fly with the ref. If somehow you can fool him into thinking its exactly the same as a b18c1 then you might be able to pull it off, but still i’m skeptical.
One thing that you need to know is that you shouldn’t plan on fooling the smog ref. I called my local smog ref and talked with him about swaps. I had originally thought that i could probably fool him on some of the little detials --well, turns out this guy knows more about hondas than most of us here on g2ic do. he said he was familiar w/ jdm swaps, and he does not pass them. He said he was familiar w/ people trying to swap heads (both ls/vtec and poorman’s itr) and said he checks for those things --if the engine isn’t the same as it was from the factory, you will fail. Also, the obd system, he checks this as well.
Talking with the smog ref made me switch from planning a poorman’s itr to planning a b17a swap. The only real obstacle i will have with swapping a b17a into my 91 is the obd issues --which don’t seem like they are gonna be that easy, but i’m gonna try. [/B]
the visual is the hardest part of the smog…cause like u said ls/vtecs and the types are NOT SMOG legal
-peace:(
visual is the only part you have to worry about. the actual tailpipe test is super easy and any stock honda engine will pass (and most heavily modded ones will pass as well --but you may need to do some special tuning in order to get it to run cleaner)