Do you have to smog check a post-smog engine in a pre-smog car? I still haven't registered my 49 Lincoln - just bought it a couple months back. I want to put a Cadillac 500 ci motor in it from the 70's. But am concerned about smog. I had originally planned to change the title to inoperable status until I finish the build. But now I'm concerned that this may require an inspection once I change the title back. And have issues if I chose a post-smog motor for this very pre-smog car. The 500 was available on '76 cars (the smog check start year here). And previous to that they had some smog items attached to the engine. Will I get inspected while changing the title back to operable status? Additionally, am I required to smog check or retain the smog equipment on a late model engine in a pre-smog car? Is this true of crate motors? (I've searched the forums and the net but could not find a clear answer. Thanks in advance for your help.)
Nope. You can now do whatever you want to this engine and it should be legal. I think the only institution that needs to know about the transplant is your insurance co. who will want to know if the car has been modified. All the DMV should be concerned with is the year make model & VIN. Why such a damn big engine?? lol Yes you will be inspected, but only for roadworthiness as far as I know.
NO. Its based on the year of the vehicle. Thats how it comes up in the system when its time for you to smog or register your vehicle. Since your vehicle is before '74, you will not need to smog it.
Technically, legally, you must have ALL of the smog equipment in place and operable for either the engine, or the chassis, whichever is newer. Even on pre-75 cars. They are only exempt from emissions TESTING. But in reality, I doubt anyone's gonna check, or even know what they're looking at. Keep the smog stuff around awhile just in case you have to hang it back on the motor to satisfy the requirements.
Another thing.... If, like me, you also dabble in newer cars .... if you have a car that has to pass smog, and you have changed the motor, the car will now have to smog to whatever the standards are for the newest part... if your car is an '80, and you put a '91 motor in it, technically, you now have to pass '91 standards... But since not many smog guys will care if you have an '80 or '91 SBC in yer ride, it won't matter.... I have a 91 Vanagon that I am going to try to put a 2002 Porsche 3.6L motor in... I will have to pass 2002 smog, and even have to include an OBD2 plug on the dash.....
Wow. Thanks for all the responses. I sincerely appreciate it. I think I'll forget about the inoperable status just to be on the safe side. Probably won't save me that much money anyway. And I definitely will stay away from the '76 500ci. I wonder what the deal is with crate motors? I guess everyone just ignores it or licenses in another state or county. "why such a big motor?" - The 337 that's in the car (which weighs around 5k) puts out about 150hp. But it's the bigger truck flathead that no one has parts for. Price quote for rebuild was $6000+. I can build a caddy 500 from a remanufactured block and heads from United Engine for around $1100 plus intake, exhaust, carb, pumps etc. maybe $2500 when it's all done. Or rat f#$% an early '70's cad for a little less. It put out 400hp and 575 torque in 1970 - stock. And was built for a 6k lbs car. $6000 for a 150hp flathead is a little too traditional for me. I love how it looks but come on. I just can't afford that. Crate motors are ridiculous pricewise. United Engine has remanufactured blocks and heads for so cheap it's crazy. You can get a 350 for about $700. SO for me the equation was - if I'm going to build my own stock engine from parts and save so much money why not spend the extra $600 and go for the most torque and hp block you can get. Not to mention I'll be using an engine built for a 6000lb car in another really large car. So hopefully it will last longer than if I was trying to pull that much weight with a smaller engine. I also have some cadillac design ideas for the lincoln that might tie it all together. I might even find a good used motor out of a wreck for maybe what? - $500? $1000? I'm not a hot rodder. Just want the most life and bang for my buck. At least it's not a 350 though huh? lol.
Is this car out of the computer? You say you haven't registered it... I would register it before the engine swap.. If it is not in the dmv computer OR from out of state.. It will need a vin verification.. If you get sent to CHP for your vin verification theyt could send you to the smog referee if they notice the newer engine.. I have been round and round on this with several cars... now I register older cars before making any mods....EVILT
Flingdingo is correct, so is big o. but Dreadman they stopped the rolling 30 year cutoff a few years ago, stopped it at '74 and are trying to set it back even further......maybe back to '65 like it was in the mid 80's.
it's registered. got it from a guy in LB who got it from a guy in modesto. but it hadn't had tabs since 74. maybe i better check with dmv. could it have been dropped if the guy just stopped paying licensing all those years ago? title is CA.
anything that is not registered or have a non-operational on it drops off the computer after 5 years. i would say get it in your name, you might have to register it for a year then non-op it or you may be able to do a title only transfer.
correct about not doing the 30 year rolling exemption... but it's actually 1975 and older that is exempt.
yes it will be out of the computer. the best thing to do will be to go in there with no paperwork, and tell them that it was in your name before, but you let it sit for 10 years or so, and now you want to get it back on the road. they will give you a "statement of facts" sheet that you will fill out, and tell this story about it being in your name previously, and letting it sit, and now you want to drive it again. you will also get a "verification" sheet - this does not have to go to CHP.....you can get it verified at DMV. it will however have to run when you take it in for this because they have recently told me that they don't verify cars on trailers. my advice is to NEVER get the CHP involved. 2 things to keep in mind: DO NOT tell them that you plan to restore it - i recently had them tell me that i have to restore it first so that they would know what it will be worth in order to know how much to charge for taxes, and yearly registration. just tell them that you want to get it running again. the other thing is to just give them a value of about $500 - the yearly registration is based on the selling price or the value of the vehicle....if you tell them that it was already in your name, they will go by the value that you state.
this all comes down to whether it can be considered and engine "change", or an egine "swap": an engine "change" is any engine in the same configuration as an engine that was originally offered in the vehicle new....meaning that if you put an '80 block into your '76 car, it can be considered a change as long as it is the same configuration of an engine, and has the equipment required when new. - I.E a 350 chev from '80 into a car with a 350 built in '76 you can also put in a different engine such as a 454 instead of a 350 or a V* instead of a 6 cyl if there was an option for that engine in that car that year - you just have to have everything that the car would have came with if it had that engine originally. an engine "swap" is putting in an engine configuration that was never offered in the car that year, and in that case for the most part you have to have everything that that engine came with that year including electronics like has already been stated....BUT the thing that wasn't mentioned is that you have to go to a "referee" to get it checked out, and a "B.A.R. label" put on the car for the smog station to go by....the referee ultimately decides what has to be on the car, and signs it off, so if you are doing this, you would be better off starting with the referee first in order to find out what they want, and how they want it done.
as far as "why such a big engine?" - that's what they call hot rodding, and i'd say go for it. the only thing i see is that some ford people will not like it....i have a chevy in my ford truck, but do not like seeing a chevy in a Pontiac
as far as "why such a big engine?" - that's what they call hot rodding, and i'd say go for it. the only thing i see is that some ford people will not like it....i have a chevy in my ford truck, but do not like seeing a chevy in a Pontiac
lastly...for what it's worth, i've been a CA smog tech for 14 years, and have had to deal with about 7 of my cars being out of the computer at DMV
The second some "Ford Guy" pony's up the six grand to rebuild my flathead I'll gladly make him happy and put it right back in! LOL! I'm going for a traditional look. In that I prefer that style over a Boydster trailer queen. And I have alot more respect for the car people that work on and build their own rides. Working on it and creating something original is what it's about for me. And I prefer the traditional customs that were "original" works. Where guys without the boydster type money dug thru a junkyard and put something together that rivaled the rich trailer towers. But the key word is "original". If I build a replica of a traditional rod or custom all I am doing is restoring or building something that someone else thought up or had. Traditional builders were not trying to copy each other or anyone else. They were trying to be original. Where that line is though is hard to say. I saw a 31 ford coupe owned and being further worked on by Billy Zane this week. He stuck a rice burner muffler on the end of his headers. That he found hanging on the wall of his local auto parts store. But as crazy as that sounds it actually looked great. And like something a traditional rodder might have pulled off a wall or some industrial peice of machinery and stuck it on his car. Cause it was simply cheap and looked cool as hell. SO I don't hold to too many rules. But if it looks like shit it looks like shit - ya know? If it looks cool. Who cares? I think any real traditional rodder back in the day would have said "Shut your rule book and your pie hole." lol! Thank you again for the help with DMV. I sincerely appreciate it. 49lincoln
For a newbie you got a lot to add..... I am not a smog tech but, I build/ modify cars for a living and help customers with registration and DMV when needed. I have been through this several times also.. From my experience, each DMV office handles these situations diff. They have verified non-running cars on a trailer for me within the last couple months. Getting the CHP invloved does suck as stated. The DMV here will send any "OLD" car to the CHP for vin verification simply because they don't know what they are looking at running or not. An easy way to handle the vin verification is to use triple A. They do vin verification in their office and handle all the registration for you.....EVILT
If you want professional advice at a inexpensive price ($130 to register my '34 Plymouth) go to In and Out Vehicle Registration Services in Lake Elsinore CA. You can read about the issues some HAMB guys and I went through at http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92868&page=2&highlight=California+DMV+Hell They have 20 years experience when they used to work at the DMV and know all of the laws. If you want it legal, this makes it easy. (951) 245-3939 (951) 245-1160 fax
I'll probably keep my insurance co. up to date as I make changes worth mentioning, ie lowering, engine mods etc. I don't want them to have any reason not to pay up if something happens. Not that I've had this happen to me, but it seems like everyone is out to fuck everyone else these days, and I like to cover my ass(I'm also just a paranoid MF). plus my insurance payment is already so damn low anyway it's ridiculous, so it couldn't hurt. As far as my asking "why such a big engine" the only reason I ask is that you can build a smaller engine to make plenty of power. Parts are cheaper, and the bigger your engine, the worse your mileage, the heavier the front of your car, etc. Just seems like a '49 is more of a croozer, than a hot rod. But like you're saying, build it how you want, I'm not throwing a rule book atcha!! Not that I'm one to talk, I'm running a Cad 472 myself, but if I was looking to replace it I'd go smaller. I'm not taking a Coupe Deville to the drags anytime soon...
"As far as my asking "why such a big engine" the only reason I ask is that you can build a smaller engine to make plenty of power. Parts are cheaper, and the bigger your engine, the worse your mileage, the heavier the front of your car, etc. Just seems like a '49 is more of a croozer, than a hot rod. But like you're saying, build it how you want, I'm not throwing a rule book atcha!! Not that I'm one to talk, I'm running a Cad 472 myself, but if I was looking to replace it I'd go smaller. I'm not taking a Coupe Deville to the drags anytime soon..." Here's the funny thing - the flathead that came in it weighs 900lbs! The Cad 500 is around 600lbs. So I'm actually dropping 300lbs in the process. LOL! And adding about 250hp! That's almost one horse per pound of reduced weight. Ridiculous. I'm afraid to pull the thing in my slanted driveway.
"As far as my asking "why such a big engine" the only reason I ask is that you can build a smaller engine to make plenty of power. Parts are cheaper, and the bigger your engine, the worse your mileage, the heavier the front of your car, etc. Just seems like a '49 is more of a croozer, than a hot rod. But like you're saying, build it how you want, I'm not throwing a rule book atcha!! Not that I'm one to talk, I'm running a Cad 472 myself, but if I was looking to replace it I'd go smaller. I'm not taking a Coupe Deville to the drags anytime soon..." Here's the funny thing - the flathead that came in it weighs 900lbs! The Cad 500 is around 600lbs. So I'm actually dropping 300lbs in the process. LOL! And adding about 250hp! That's almost one horse per pound of reduced weight. Ridiculous. I'm afraid to pull the thing in my slanted driveway.
yep, you're right....and not only does it differ from dffice to office, but from person to person in the office - kinda like the luck of the draw. really got me bent out of shape when the old bag told me i had to restore my car first, then register it. she just couldn't understand why i refused to restore a car that wasn't even in my name LOL
never had to have a vin checked yet (on running and non running cars) or ask to restore a car first but they did want me to restore the yom plates i wanted to use on the '36.....so i went to a different dmv and it was no problem. btw i was also a smog tech for about 8 or 9 years but stopped 3 years ago.
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