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California Emissions + 1980 MKIV 1500

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The good news is the air tubes are still screwed into the head, albeit cut off at the end of the rail, which means the head is most likely correct.
 
I'm not sure what that stubbed-off connection to the air rail is; but I think I see the pipe around to the other side and the check valve still there, down below the vacuum retard.

For sure, have to change both intake and exhaust manifolds. A shame too, that looks like a fairly nicely done conversion. Moss shows the cat to be in the head pipe, so the cat is AWOL too, along with the air pump and EGR.
 
And, maybe not an air pump, once we find out the VIN.
There was a change.
There is something on one side, but the piece in the end of the hose sure looks like a rotted off check valve.
The ones that did not have an air pump had a whacking big diverter valve on the other side from the carburettor.
The piece off the air rail, towards the rear, where it curves over, can't tell if it's whacked and capped or just the hose removed and capped.

SAVE all you take off. If it ever goes to a state that doesn't give a rat's hindquarters about emissions on a 1980 Spit, send it all along.

Check with the guy offering the bits off of his.
 
I'm not sure what most of what you guys are saying even means. I'm not much of a mechanic but I'm pretty mechanically inclined. I think with a Haynes Manual I could do a lot of things. I have your basic tool box with wrenches, screw drivers, alan-wrenches and what have you and a garage to work on it in. But honestly I don't know what all these names and terms you guys are throwing around means, so forgive my lack of knowledge but could anyone put things into simple terms for me?

Basically, in non-mechanic wording what's the kind of stuff I'll have to do, how hard will it be to do with the Haynes Manual, etc? I'm just wanting to realistically know if it's stuff I can actually do and afford, if not I guess I'll have no choice but to sell the little car out of state. It's a shame to, because it's so quick, handles incredibly and you can tell the engine is strong and has all it's compression. Such a fantastic little car, I love it to death and hate California government the the wrath of a thousand suns.

The VIN # is : TFVDW2AT004933
 
Okay, SpitBits lists the break point on types of emissions controls at FM80001. Not sure how that relates to TFVDW2AT004933.
Let's guess the latter, after FM800001.

The air rail (fits into the head, carb side, rail runs horizontal) the capped fitting fits into the missing AIR INTAKE BLEED VALVE. The rail continues rear, across the back of the valve cover, down the ignition side, to the missing check valve, to hose, to missing pump (and brackets), with belt, the other side of the pump goes to a missing hose, check valve, and pipe to the missing exhaust manifold.
The EGR valve fits into the top of the intake (which looks to be wrong on your car), and exhaust.
There is an anti-run-on valve missing.
There is a catalytic converter that fits to the bottom of the exhaust manifold.

You will need the exhaust header pipe for sure, Catalytic Converter, Intake and Exhaust manifolds, charcoal cannister, anti-run-on valve, maybe an air rail, factory air cleaner and thermactor with hot air tube, carburettor, air pump with brackets and belt, plus any missing pulleys, EGR with all pipes, air intake bleed valve, two check valves, various pipes for EGR and air pump, and a bunch of specialized hoses and clamps.

You will not get away with part of it.
It ALL has to be there and fully functional before you begin dealing with the California Bureaucracy.
And, it needs to be tweaked.
Carb will probably have to be rebuilt, not sure if someone messed with the distributor of not, probably a retard advance unit (Feds and CA liked those), and a proper emissions sticker, if it's been removed.
For starters.

Best bet, find a local club and someone who has a 1980 Spit that is CA licensed, park his next to yours, compare, take photos, and order parts.

Some stuff is NLA (no longer available), so pipes will have to be fabricated.

Contact the guy in this thread who offerred all the stuff he is taking off his.

Dave
 
Here's what is missing:
Air pump, bracket
Bleed valve, bracket
Intake manifold
Exhaust manifold
Cat
Carb, hardlines
Throttle cable, bracket
Heatshield
EGR valve
EGR pipe (U shaped, asbestos covered)
Flame trap
Charcoal canisters, pair, bracket
Anti run on valve, bracket
Air filter can
Air filter cowbell and hot air tube
Hard water line to autochoke
Hard line for crankcase vent
About 8 hoses and 2 or 3 "restrictors"

Here's what you have installed:
Air rail and check valve

The difference between the Federal cars and the CA cars are:
1. Exhaust manifold is different (hot air pickup point is different)
2. Charcoal canisters are plumbed sequentially for CA

The inspector would really REALLY need to know Spitfires to notice the difference from Federal to CA. Also, your "opus" electronic ignition dizzy has been replaced with a Lucas replacement with a separate ignition module; probably not a big deal. Your ballast resistor is also missing, BTW.

The only thing I do NOT have is the "AC" air filter can, and that's probably the easiest thing to find used on eBay. Ask the masses here what they think a fair price for all of the above is. I'm guessing it's about twice what I'm asking. The throttle cable and the intake tube are both NOS (not repros, genuine NOS parts with B/L stickers).

Our cars are twins BTW, same color combination.
 
Scott, et.al.: Can I assume that the car in question, being a "Federal" car, would only have to be brought to "Federal" spec's using "Federal" equipment?

I might have some of this stuff myself; anyone got a good picture of that AC air filter can?
 
Andrew Mace said:
Scott, et.al.: Can I assume that the car in question, being a "Federal" car, would only have to be brought to "Federal" spec's using "Federal" equipment?

I might have some of this stuff myself; anyone got a good picture of that AC air filter can?
Click to expand...

Good question; I dont know if it needs to meet CA specs or just Federal.
Here's the filter assy (not my photo). As I recall, it uses special bolts too; a shoulder of some sort on them.

url]
 
From an earlier post, there IS no CA 1980 Spit.
Disallowed.
But, after a certain number of years, a FED vehicle apprarently can be imported.
 
I'd find a friendly SMOG shop and ask to see what their reference material is, at least that way you know the target you are aiming at for sure.
 
Andrew Mace said:
Scott, et.al.: Can I assume that the car in question, being a "Federal" car, would only have to be brought to "Federal" spec's using "Federal" equipment?
Click to expand...
Yes, as long as it is a "used" car. Being 31 years old, I doubt there will be any problem on that point! :laugh:

And as I mentioned before, things have changed a lot since the CA smog test now involves running the car on a dyno. My experience has been that they are a lot less picky on the visual inspection (to the point that I'm not sure they do any physical inspection at all
grin.gif
) than they used to be.

But of course pretty much all the major components have to be in place and operating to pass the tailpipe test. You might get away with the air pump not working, as long as the cat lights off, but I sure wouldn't want to bet on it. And the sniffer is plenty sensitive enough to notice an EGR valve or catalyst that isn't doing it's job.

Anti-runon doesn't affect emissions, so not required. They might notice if the hot air intake (thermactor) is missing, but I doubt it.

I don't know how much information is in the Haynes, especially on the later (after 1975) emission setups. But all this stuff bolts or clamps on, so I think doing the physical work should be no problem. Exhausts are always a hassle just because things tend to be corroded together and you have to work under the car (ramps or jack stands are required) with crud falling in your face. Personally, I'd take it to a shop to have the exhaust done. (I'd be happy to recommend the shop I use, but it's a bit of a drive for you.)

The hardest part will be collecting and identifying all the bits you need. You might need to buy a few special tools, like the gizmo for adjusting the mixture on the later ZS carbs, but not too many. This is not something I'd expect to complete in a weekend, nor maybe even two, but I believe it should be do-able if you have at least a modicum of mechanical ability.

We'll be happy to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about any particular part, but you'll have to ask the question first. Poke around on the Moss website, it has illustrations of most of them (if you can find the right page). Eg,
https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=33009
https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=33027

When you do get it assembled, go to the smog shop and specifically ask for a "pre-test". This is a mode where they can run through the entire test, but without sending the results to the state. That way if it fails (including missing parts), the state computer will not brand you as a "modified" or "gross polluter" car. The shop I use charges about $40 for a pre-test, $60 for a full test, so the total bill would be $100. But he is an absolute wizard at getting them to pass. He even managed to pass my 1980 Chevy, after all the pellets had fallen out of the converter!
 
Pellets fell out of the converter?

How many times have I seen THAT?
And miraculously, they didn't end up in the muffler.
Odd.
Almost like the miraculous migrating BB in the EGR vacuum line.
 
I've got a "KAR KIT" that I'll sell you.This is from the past.
You got a small box with two rubber plugs (for the vacuum advance),
& a decal for the dash.Anyone remember these?
Please let us know how this progresses.

- Doug
 
TOC said:
Pellets fell out of the converter?

How many times have I seen THAT?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. But in my case, I honestly had nothing to do with their disappearance. I only knew they were gone when I took the car in later that week to have the cat replaced. Ran like crap without the backpressure from the converter pellets, but I was putting off the tune-up until I found out what it took to pass the smog check.

And, strange as it may seem, I'm actually a believer in emission controls. In the 30+ years I've lived in the LA smog basin, they have done a remarkable job of cleaning up the air. When I moved out here, you could see the brown gunk forming over the freeways in the morning; and blowing through the passes out into the desert. Had a first-stage smog alert practically every day.

Now if you see that kind of grunge in the air, it means something is burning somewhere. And I don't recall the last time we had a 1st stage smog alert. Yet there are more people, and more cars, than before.
 
What a thread. I know you love this car but from some of your responses, I'm not sure if you fully understand the amount and difficulty of work involved in getting this car smogged here in CA. I think you really, really need to sit down and decide if you really want to do this. Besides the mechanical work involved, also plan on multiple trips to smog test and referee stations as well as the DMV to get the temporary permits to move the thing every time it needs to be moved.

One point that bears mentioning above all others is that it sounds like this transaction took place within the state of California. The seller is responsible for providing a smog certificate. Period. Most private sale buyers do the smog themselves after purchase but legally it is on the owner to do it. If this goes really badly, you may have to use that recourse.

If you do indeed decide to go ahead with this, DO NOT TAKE THE CAR TO THE LOCAL EZ-SMOG TEST STATION!!!!! I can not stress this enough. They can only do official tests. If the car fails so badly that it is labeled a gross polluter, you will now have graduated into the major leagues of smog beauracracy heck and wished you had taken up scrapbooking instead of this car. Take the car to an offical Smog Repair station where they can "pre-test" the car and tell you if it's going to pass.

Did I mention that it might be a better idea to sell this one and buy a nice local CA car?

Some of the tricks used to "help" cars pass when they fail by a little bit even though they have all the original correctly functioning smog bits on them and are properly tuned -

1. Overfill the rear tires with air to reduce the rolling resistance on the smog dyno
2. Use an alcohol fuel additive. My understanding is that they are measuring byproducts of gasoline combustion and not alcohol. You will need to drain it back out afterwards as it will play heck on fuel system components.
3. Strategically placed holes in the exhaust draw extra air into the exhaust stream. You just can't have too many or it will fail for having an exhaust leak.
4. If it was injected, you could disconnect an injector which makes it run like heck but creates a nice air pump to inject extra air into the exhaust.
5. Change the oil. Unburnt hydrocarbons in the oil are recycled through the PCV valve.

I looked at the pictures and saw what is missing. If you go through with this and succeed in getting it smogged, I think the group here would like to buy you at least one beer. Anyone who perseveres through an adventure like this will deserve it.
 
You ain't lived until you've had a Midget come into the shop with the carb boiling....and find the morons put the cat sideways UNDER the intake manifold with an asbestos shield.
Misfiring (guides if I recall) overheated the cat, crystallized the hoses, rebuild carb, replace cat, can't find a new sheild, all new hoses after rebuilding the head, and then due to all the anti-freeze soaking the asbestos, when the cat lit, the asbestos lit, and you had blue-green flames off the shield until it finally burned off.

It was that particular vehicle that made me decide I wasn't buying any emission controlled vehicle, and ESPECIALLY not an German, British, or Italian one.

Went through too much grief with Fiat emissions, saw what an EGR did to a Bug, said no thanks.
 
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