Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the future?

[Bret]

Boy I’m good!

My 78B passed the Kalifornia Emissions test at the dreaded “Test Only” station with flying colors. Not bad considering I only made some “minor” checks & adjustments. Nothing out of the ordinary needed to be performed.

Of interest – the test tech actually “cringed” when I pulled in and tried to talk me out of letting them perform the test on my MG. Suggested I take it to one of the “Test Only” stations downtown stating that they tend to be more familiar with “exotics” like mine.

Trying my best not to laugh at the comment – I suggested that it should be ok, but to pay close attention to the timing, as the last time I brought it here the tech didn’t realize that you needed to check timing at “1500rpms” and not at idle.

At that point he kind of got a little snippy – saying if it ain’t written on the decal under the hood, he’d have to go by whatever the book said. Again I told him it shouldn’t be a problem as it was an honest mistake the last time and that what is written in the book should clearly match what is labeled in the engine compartment.

Truthfully the tech’s flipped-ness (translated at Smart Ar$e), insecurity & total lack of knowledge about testing MG’s has me worried what the future will bring when I have to take my car in for a test in about 10 years and what the quality level of the techs will be then.

Edit: Heck I even asked if he'd like me to show him how the gear shift is set up (no tree displayed). To wit - he replyed "oh I'm sure I'll find'em one way or another". With that I told him if he didn't mind I'd prefer not to replace my clutch any sooner than needed so I walked him out to my car and actually showed him the how it worked. I think I got him a little PO'ed with that comment and frankly am a bit surprised he didn't try to ding me on something during the visual inspectino.

 

[Stewart]

I wouldn't worry about 10 years from now as I'm sure sometime in the near future California will ban any pre obII car in an attempt to stop global warming, save the spotted owl, desert tortuous, a few random fly's, the common rat, preventing baby seals from getting clubbed, rehydrating the California raisins and once and for all prove that California cows are happier than Wisconsin cows.


Congrats on the surviving the tail pipe inquisition

 

[RomanH]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

Hi Bret,
Glad to hear that your beast past it's exam!

Here in Illinois all of us who own older cars are dancing for joy since our legislature finally did something that makes sense. They scrapped testing for all non OBDII cars as long as they past their last test cycle! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
We are free from the government peons who wreak havoc on clutches and destroy manual gearboxes! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
We can only hope that California sees the light and adopts a similar stance.

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

Congrats, Bret.

...there are abusive, ham-fisted State minion "techs" here still alive, simply due to the fact that the "testing" program ended in 2000.
They haven't a CLUE they're as lucky as they are, either. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif

 

[Bret]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

What I have yet to have satisfactorily explained to me is why my car is flagged every time for the "Smog Test Only" inspection. These state run smog testing facilities don’t do repairs or make recommendations of any kind and if you fail you have to either fix it yourself or pay someone else to do the work for you. But this means that even if your trusted mechanic is equipped to perform the smog test – you still have to take it to the test only facility. For the less mechanically inclined who rely on others to keep their classics or even their older daily driver in good working order, this could be an expensive & daunting process.

Anyway, the test tech told me is that my 78 B falls into the “High Emitter Profile” and said that I can pretty much count on getting flagged every time because it's a 78. Of course I know this isn't the case as I know many folks with older cars like mine that have never been flagged for this. Rather than argue with this twit – I just thanked him for his help and walked away with my smog certification in hand.

Thinking about it I suspect that at some point prior to my owning my B or perhaps that first time I paid someone else to perform the test for me, the vehicle it must’ve failed miserably and got the dreaded "Grouse Polluter" profile. But ever sense then I've learned & done all my own emissions prep work. Save that one time I failed for a leaky oil filler cap (Total “BS” IMHO) I've always passed inspection and testing.

Of course it could be that “one” time I was failed because the tech didn't know how to correctly check the timing (as mentioned above) at 10dgs BTDC @ 1500 rpms. But that wouldn't make sense because it still passed the tail pipe sniffer part of the test and upon realizing their mistake (that I pointed out) they gave me a retest at no charge.

Now I don’t know if I want to risk drawing undo attention to myself at the risk of tighter scrutiny the next time I get inspected. But I’m seriously contemplating researching this with the DMV and the “Kalifornia Air Resources Board” to see if there’s any way to get my vehicle off of the High Emitter Profile HIT list. I mean after all Pagan B has had a flawless track record and discounting that “one test” 8 years ago for the oil filler cap (did I mention I thought that was BS?), in the last 6 years I haven’t failed or had to retake one emissions test.

I know this sounds like a rant (in a way it is) but I suspect this is going to be something we’re all going to have to face if you live in an emissions nannyish state like the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.

 

[Rick_Stevens]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

Remember: Arnie vetoed legislation that would've eased the restrictions. We need a different Guv.

R.

 

[Bret]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

The Goveinator (self proclaimed moderate republican) may not have done us any favors, but given Kalifornia’s over zealous & highly reactionary Nannyish nature when it comes to all things green – I don’t think we’ll ever see a roll back to the days of exemption status for older vehicles no matter who's in control (Left or Right).

 

[drooartz]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

Every time I hear these stories about CA emissions testing, I'm glad of 2 things: 1) Tunebug is pre-emissions aged (1960), and 2) no emissions test in my county here in UT anyways. Just basic safety (lights, brakes, etc).

Congrats for passing, and good luck with the CARB and DMV!

 

[AngliaGT]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

I'm thankful that we live in one of the counties
in California that doesen't have bi-annual smog checks.
We just have our vehicles 1976 & newer smogged when
we buy them.
I'm glad that most of our cars are exempt.

- Doug

 

[White79MGB]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

Bret,

At my last (and final, since I sold the '79B) smog check (test only) the technician noticed the discrepancy in the hood decal vs the smog check specs for the timing check. FWIW even though I technically "failed", he passed me by calling it a error in the smog check documentation.

Actually, I have been kind of impressed in the last two smog checks; in the tailpipe sniffer test I passed with lots of margin - the 25 year old smog equipment apparently still works.

 

[sparkydave]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

I'm fortunate in that Ohio automatically exempts vehicles over 25 years old, but I still have most of the smog gear either still present or easily restored. The only major change was removing the cat, because I had heard horror stories of scorching hot catalytic converters melting parts of the carburetor directly above it, and/or starting fires.

The really boneheaded thing I heard of was in Pennsylvania, when they tried to smog-test my dad's '47 Lincoln. Too bad for them, it failed so miserably it ruined their sniffer. Last I heard they finally came to their senses and started exempting old cars whose only emissions control is a muffler.

 

[Bret]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

Yea my numbers where pretty good too. Again with little or no pre inspection setup. I took a chance and didn’t perform a full tune up like I normally do but did twiddle with the timing and checked the tail pipe CO% using my Gunson exhaust gas analyzer.

Checked & rechecked the tail pipe readings a few times, but didn’t bother with a lot of the stuff I normally do.

Anyway the stellar results tell me that all my emissions equipment is up to par too.

In rolling dyno 15mph test (2035rpms) my B did pretty good. HC (PPM) I was lower that the average of 47, at 11 PPM with the max (failure) 222 ppm. CO% average is 0.20 and I got a 0.44 – MAX is 1.41. Where I really did good was with NO (PPM) measuring 143, whereas the Avg is 554 and the MAX is 1396.

Now the numbers bounced around a little at the 25mph dyno test with HC (PPM) at 7 and CO% improving even more by dropping below the average. The only significant rise in emissions was in NO (PPM) but it still was way below half of the average.

Not too shabby for an old vehicle that falls into the “High Emitter Profile” if I do say so myself. Can’t wait to see how she’ll do with the Moss EFI kit, new Mallory duel points dizzy with the Petronix Hal effect upgrade & a more efficient free flowing cat that I have sitting on my shelves in the garage.

 

[PAUL161]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

We dont have vehicle inspection in South Carolina, but, on my 72, it's all there and works and runs just fine!

 

[Bret]

Re: Pagan Passed Emissions! But what about the fut

We dont have vehicle inspection in South Carolina, but, on my 72, it's all there and works and runs just fine!

Well a 72 even with the emissions stuff like yours at least has the duel SU setup. I wouldn't mind the air pump & cat if I could run a set of those too.