F-You Colorado! more emission headaches, I may loose my registration Options

[newto914s]

With the help of some of the great Colorado 914 guys(notably Mike and Chris W) i got my car to pass the e-check. Read about it here.
I thought everything was fine and dandy. With my 5 year collector plates on it I never have to worry about emissions again(bring on the SBC).
But in Colorado they have these white child molester looking vans that sit on the highway entrance ramps. They use a laser to measure the emission of all the car entering. I drove by one and got a letter in the mail. Now I have to bring my car to a state inspector for another evaluation or my registration will be revoked and a $100 fine imposed. Their's no way I'm going to pass now, with no Cat an no smog pump.
The irony is my car runs better than it ever has. F-U CO

[Gint]

I just called - the year does not matter.
First of all, this is a state program, with state employees (no subcontractors). The inspection guys that will be looking at your car are master techs. The guy I spoke to was a Lotus and flat head V8 specialist. The guy who does the air cooled stuff has supposably been a PCA guy "forever" - he even asked me if this conversation came up while we were at the Parade. The limits set are passable by any correctly running car - at any RPM - from any era as far back as you can go. What they are doing is trying to keep us from doing what alot of us do - get the classic plate and then modify the motor into what they deem a gross polluter. If anyone falls outside of these limits, they must go get an inspection. If anything has been modified from stock - including the removal of airpumps and cats, we could be screwed. I asked him how he was sure that these inspectors know what they are looking at. He said they "we are not the minimum wage employees that work for the usual emissions testing stations". I did forget to ask about unobtainable/obsolete parts (like the airpumps). He was nice enough - but it was like talking to a cop.
Gints philosophy is what I will be adopting - turn around and go the other way. I am running a euro rear plate with my real one in the rear window. I may just pull it down if I ever get trapped.
I did ask him when they were going to start putting these testing stations at the entrances of car shows, that way they could both kill the hobby and make a pile of money all at once. He didn't find it funny.

One last thing, these machines are taking readings in a way that if you have a lawn mower or a gas can in the bed of a truck, or if your missing your gas cap (or even have a poorly sealing one) you will most likely get that letter. He said he has seen that on several occasions - but you will still need to get the inspection.

I figured that was going to be the deal. I do believe my 914 as rich as it runs will pass the roadside sniffer because I've gone by one before. But if I see the truck when I'm driving the 914 I go the other way and avoid it completely.

[ericread]

There have been a number of threads regarding different states that seem to echo the following:

...What they are doing is trying to keep us from doing what alot of us do - get the classic plate and then modify the motor into what they deem a gross polluter. If anyone falls outside of these limits, they must go get an inspection. If anything has been modified from stock - including the removal of airpumps and cats, we could be screwed...

Given that the participants of this BBS are pretty darned smart, I don't really understand the uproar. We know that in some states our cars (1975 and older) have been exempted from annual smog testing. We also know that although we may be exempted from annual testing, we have not been exempted from meeting specific smog requirements. The argument is that once the car has been licensed, then we are free to do what we want, beacuse the states don't have any way to find out what we've done. Now that the states may have found a way to see if we cheated, we may be caught. What's the problem?

If you've made any significant changes to your smog system, or if you happened to put a different engine into your 914, and if your 914 doesn't meet smog requirements, you're may end up having to follow the law, like a lot of us do every day.

The technicality of not needing an annual test, or of getting a "classic" plate was never intended to provide you with a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. That some people here interpreted it as such poses significant risk to them.

If you are planning a "track" car, then use it at the track. Otherwise, it appears we will all have to follow the law.

Flame on.....

Eric Read

[newto914s]

There have been a number of threads regarding different states that seem to echo the following:

...What they are doing is trying to keep us from doing what alot of us do - get the classic plate and then modify the motor into what they deem a gross polluter. If anyone falls outside of these limits, they must go get an inspection. If anything has been modified from stock - including the removal of airpumps and cats, we could be screwed...

The technicality of not needing an annual test, or of getting a "classic" plate was never intended to provide you with a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. That some people here interpreted it as such poses significant risk to them.

If you are planning a "track" car, then use it at the track. Otherwise, it appears we will all have to follow the law.

Flame on.....

Eric Read

I get it, I'm not looking for a "get out of jail free" card. My car is essentially stock. running D-jet with a slightly tweeked MPS. Gint makes a great point, the limits are set below what our cars came from the factory to emit. And honestly, if I had a suby swap my car would be running cleaner.

[ArtechnikA]

...My car is essentially stock. running D-jet with a slightly tweeked MPS. Gint makes a great point, the limits are set below what our cars came from the factory to emit.

So there ya go, no problem.
The 'road test' sensor can't know the standards are required to meet - it only knows total emisions. This is why the human-intervention inspection is required - to compare the actual vehicle against the standards it is required to meet. Since your car can meet those standards with flying colors (yes?) you have no problem.

Edited because I re-read the original post...

My car is essentially stock.

Minus the required cat and air pump...

Worst-case, you have been inconvenienced. [pithy comment about the nature of government omitted, but this is where it'd go...] Best-case, your car has developed an engine-management malfunction, and you have been alerted to this fact before it caused any serious damage.