A friend of mine just told me he heard that the California state senate just passed a bill that would move the smog test to 80 and newer cars. State assembly needs to pass it.

Is this for real?

1880, yes
Or was it an 80 year rolling window....

My understanding is that it has been voted out of the senate transportation committee and referred back to the senate appropriation committee. It has not yet reached the senate floor for a vote. After senate approval it would be on to the state assembly and for committee approvals and finally an assembly vote. If it makes it through those steps it will finally meet Jerry Brown's signature before it would become law.

Don't get your hopes up yet for the 1976 teeners.

I've heard nada - and I own a smog shop...

I wouldn’t get too excited. California has changed inspection requirements, and then changed them back a couple of years later. An awful lot of very nice rust free cars have been crushed because the owners thought they’d never need smog equipment again only to have the State change the inspection requirements back…

Dont HOLD your Breath...we live in California where common sense does not prevail.

New Inspection ruling in New Jersey.
No smog test for any vehicle prior to 1995.
You no longer have to have the vehicle inspected.
You are instructed to remove the inspection sticker.
This for vehicles that don't already have Historic (QQ) plates.
Of course you could be inspected on the spot from a policeman if he pulls you over for a broken tail light or something.

Dave

One of the reasons I love Minnesota, no smog inspections ever.

There's been lobbying, but I'll believe it when I see it.

There were inspections. The state actually had its own smog test facilities. Huge drive through affairs. Very efficient. I believe Jesse Ventura shut them down.

Same for the People's Republic of Connecticut. Rolling 20-yr waivers, everything 96 and later is a simple OBD check for codes. Soon they won't need the roller dynos any more.

Every once in a while CT gets it right.

Except that exemption from testing never meant you could go ahead and take all the smog equipment that came on a car off of it anyway. When I first moved to LA in the 80's you could not see across the San Fernando Valley at noon, I'm not sure I am eager to trade breathing for someone's right to drive a poorly maintained '79 Toyota pickup.

Correct, we had emission testing facilities. While it was very efficient, it was still a PITA.

While I love Minnesota, I also hate Minnesota for killing so many 914's with road salt

I pretty much agree. The argument though is there aren't that many '79 Toyota pickups on the road. There are so few older cars on the road nowadays, I don't think it really makes a dent in the air pollution problem. Am I wrong?

Kentucky had the same "efficient" drive through inspection stations. Large cinder block buildings with five or six bays with chassis dyno type test equipment. I found out that they were ALL owned by the same person. Nice huh? They shut them all down years ago.

I encourage everyone to stay in Minnesota or what ever their home state is. California is a horrible place to live. Don't even think of coming here. And if you're thinking of leaving, take as many with you as you can.

If I remember, the guy who spearheaded the smog exemption law for older cars in CA was John Burton, a member of the state legislature. I heard that it was because he owned a 914-6 and couldn't get it to pass the smog rules in place at the time.

I do remember the headache of trying to get my 914-6 to pass smog in CA back then. I hired an environmental engineer with emissions measuring equipment to adjust the carbs & advance to just pass the minimum thresholds at idle and 2500 rpm, then immediately hook it up to the state connected emissions tester to get my smog certificate. This usually took 4-6 hours of us fiddling with the tune of the car. Afterwards I had to completely change the carb settings and advance to get it to run properly and drive it home. Every two years.

Sort of.....it is the federal law that has eluded compliance for at least the LA Basin.

It is the shear amount of cars that are here that is the problem. Now instead of NO being the major problem it is O3 that is out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. It is WAY better than when I was a kid. Then there were days you couldn.t breathe or see the mountains which were less than a mile away. The dyno testing was changed recently to exempt cars 1999 and later. No dyno.

For all the strong opinions against electric cars, it's the LA area that is just such a perfect micro climate to require electric cArs just to be able to see and breathe properly.

It always makes me scratch my head when I hear CA people against the electric car industry when the smog is crazy bad.

As far as the smog testing goes, in the northeast most of the older cars are now gone, between the cash for clunkers program and the smog testing on the dyno....then the mandatory requirement of no rust showing....oh, and zero percent financing...

All of that killed off all the 70,s and 80,s cars...
Salt was probably the number one killer, but the rest finished off the stockpile.

In CA it will take longer because cars last forever....

It sucks, but it really is a good thing.

Maybe not except for those driven by gardeners pool cleaners and those guys who hire out to haul off trash cheaply. Perhaps an exemption based on low mileage driven, kind of like the mileage limits on classic car insurance?

in NC, no emissions test, and if it doesn't have ODBII (1996 and older) its only a safety inspection. Then, if its' 35 years or older, not even that.

Anyone find any info on this online? Google is failing me.

No, the Senate did NOT pass anything, it was just committee. Online you can get current status at the Calif. Senate website, here for SB1239: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/bi...201520160SB1239

But this is the correct summary of current status and the next (possible) steps:


A similar bill also passed committee a few years ago but was never taken up by the Senate so it died. Still a long way to go so put off buying any 76's for a bit longer.

I thought the one a few years ago died in committee?

I don't remember where I read it, but the AirQuality Management District (AQMD) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) admitted that pre 1976 autos only made up approx 3% of registered cars in Kalifinoria. They agreed that a large percentage of those were classics that were driven minimal miles. The early vehicles are not the cause of the thick air. It is purely the over population. If we all would agree on a Congressman, we could pool our money, legally funnel it to him, and just like magic the cutoff would be 1980...

I think you're right. This one's going to the Appropriations Committee next, then if it passes there to the Senate, from there to a couple of the House committees, then if it passes all those to the House for a vote. And then if it passes there MAYBE Jerry Brown signs it into law. But obviously a lot of obstacles between now and then.


There are 80 Representatives in the California House (plus another 40 State Senators) so buying one won't get you very far. Worse is that the ranking of most polluted cities in the U.S. came out this week too, with L.A. and Bakersfield are leading things again, as usual. Heck, there are regulations on gasoline engined lawn mowers, so I doubt there's going to be much enthusiasm in the legislature to unleash more dirty cars, no matter how small the percentage.

The state owned the facilities in Minnesota. That was Jesse's motivation to shut them down. Contracting the expanding reach of government.

My smog shop is required to have three machines. One is called a BAR 97, it tests cars that are '99 and older. The second, is a machine called a Data Acquisition Device. It tests cars 2000 and newer by the OBDII. The third tests gas caps and is only required if the machine says so for certain cars.

Yesterday, my smog tech called to tell me he was having problems with the phone land line. I asked if the BAR 97 was working, as it requires a land line. He said no, but it wasn't a problem as he rarely uses the BAR 97. Meaning, we don't have that many '99 and older cars coming in.

There is a company in Pasadena that rents out these BAR 97 machines to smog shops. If we extrapolate what I pay for my machine to the number of licensed shops in California, this is a $1.75M business for them. PER MONTH! That's who you're up against if you want to change the law. Nevada where I live only does OBDII testing on '97 and newer.

DB, I was part of a group that helped to save our off road riding areas when they were under attack from the Sierra club. Without having at least one representative in your pocket, your cause is dead in the water. That one well funded Rep ends up swaying many...

California people against the electric car industry? I haven't heard anyone in California that is "against" the electric car industry. Have you heard a lot of people saying this? Do they maybe represent the oil industry?

I've heard them, Elliot. Every place has its fair share of idiots, including us. Some people would even say especially us.

When folks quote statements, many times they are simply quoting "hear say" . I know someone that singed up last week for the new Tesla - 3. And yes, they live in LA!

"Hear say"? You don't say?

Sorry, just people on this board, pretty passionate about the issue, and other car friends.
Still makes me scratch my head.
Not heresay

And btw, I am not saying everyone needs to rush out and buy one.....I am still not convinced the technology is there yet, certainly not the range...

Still, I do believe we should applaud those willing to be early adopters....so those of us who would rather wait can do that...

I guess the argument is for folks who want Webers on there 76. The D-jet 76 daily driver I sold last year passed smog 4 times in a row with flying colors here in CA. The requirement is adjusted for the age and is reasonable for a properly tuned car. I had a 73 F.I. combo and euro pistons as well.

I kind of want to do an engine conversion. Like a honda v-6

Interesting, I remember that. I ride, including off-road, but was on the other side of that issue.



Not a problem on an early car, just do it, it's impossible to describe how much fun another 100 horses can add. If it's on a smog car (76 or newer) you'll need to bring over all that Honda's smog equipment. Not easy, but not impossible, either. Or you could wait for the law to change, but I fear you may be waiting for a long, long time.

I have a bunch of coworkers with Tesla's and they love them. I got to drive one and they are very fast and corner well. They work great for someone who just commutes to and from work. Personally I don't like big cars and since I am in sales, I visit customers all over so cal in one day. Even with there biggest battery pack, I would need to recharge between appointments and that ain't going to happen.
When the prices drop and they get the battery pack to 300 miles, I will get one.

The dollars flow for new car and use car sales. $500-1000 cars are bad for business, tax business that is..... That's why we all get letters offering to buy our cars to scrap them.

As an update this bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, who recommended passage. It went back to the floor of the Senate where it was put into an "inactive" file, meaning it's available to be taken up again by the full Senate at any time. I think they're in summer recess now, so maybe at the end of the summer. Important about all that is that it's still alive, which is a lot better than what happened to a similar bill several years ago. Still a slim chance, but it's not dead yet.

I think the string for the can phone that runs from Ca to Ma is tangled up.

Time to go get that 1980 Tercel I've always wanted?

Sure, because you can now do that Tercel/LS conversion you have been dreaming of.

Still wouldn't be legal, just less likely to be harassed about it....I miss my 4wd Tercel wagon!