To bring this a little back on topic, Andrew you don’t have anything to worry about. There is no law as described. Just drive responsibly. You know what your car will do, no need to show off. The line I use when I get someone, doing a burn out is, “There is a time and a place or everything.” The street isn’t the place to do serious racing. And the parking lot of Taco Bell during a busy night isn’t the place to do burn outs

When I was your age my daily driver was a V8 Vega, 350, solid lifter cam, 12 bolt rear end, 4.56 gears, tunnel ram and nitrous. Had nice paint, I always drove conservatively in public, and while all the others were getting stopped on cruise night the cops left me alone. There were a number of times when some guy would pull up along side of me with his beater Camaro and try to get me to race. Nearly all of these guys wound up getting stopped, I just idled by as the hooker headers made the ground shake.

Wide tires or not, as long as your conversion is clean, and you always drive conservatively, especially in your own neighborhood, you shouldn’t have any troubles. Nice cars don’t draw the attention of the police nearly as much as a beater.

Mark

QUOTE (reedhmb @ Feb 17 2006, 02:22 PM)

The line I use when I get someone, doing a burn out is, “There is a time and a place or everything.” The street isn’t the place to do serious racing. And the parking lot of Taco Bell during a busy night isn’t the place to do burn outs

Funny.... I work at taco bell...(manager, grave yard on weekends...)

I know what your talking about

Now we've established that this law doesn't actually exist - err... I quite like living in California. I'm sure some of the other .. uh... 40 million people living here - like it too, or at least don't find it bad enough to leave. It's got some annoyances. Show me a place that doesn't have annoyances!

From the Dad's point of view...

Thanks to those who replied.
Especially the first link talked about what the policia are looking for when they inspect for modified cars.

Mark, I appreciate your words of wisdom as well as the others that posted. I am concerned that there are 'enthusiastic' men in blue that interpret the laws differently than others. I'm lucky that Andrew has a good head on his shoulders. He has a lot of respect for others on the road.

I do believe some muni's have created ordinances like LA and Sac that allow them to go the distance with street racers. Impounds and crushing cars as will.

My fear is that in a moment of misjudgment the officer will take one look at his age and the beast of a car he’s driving and determine that he ‘must’ be a street racer.

I’m probably just being a worry wart, but that’s my job…
(You would be too if your Son was driving a 914 with a V8 in it.)

DanD

Oh Yah, I like California too. No bugs...(I was going to say no snow, but it may snow tonight...)

QUOTE (dan10101 @ Feb 17 2006, 09:13 PM)

I’m probably just being a worry wart, but that’s my job… (You would be too if your Son was driving a 914 with a V8 in it.)

That's true . That's a lot of juice.

I remember what I got up to in my Spitfire (which only had like 90-100hp) when I was 18 or so.

Good times - good times.

While we're on the subject .............

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/1...-15043650c.html

The Cap'n

ya have to register to read the article

dude! I wonder if they'll grab the Enzo!

"NO converters in 73 that crap started in 75"
Are converters std on all 75's?

QUOTE (reddog @ Feb 22 2006, 08:39 PM)

"NO converters in 73 that crap started in 75" Are converters std on all 75's?

No. The California smog rules got a LOT tighter that year, so tight that it was impossible to pass without some sort of exhaust "cleaner". Most manufacturers went to oxidizing catalysts (HC -> H2O + CO2, CO -> CO2), but a very few went to thermal reactors, which used huge iron heat sinks to "burn" the exhaust and do the same reactions. Porsche was one of those, with the 911, which produced the infamous '75-'77 2.7s.

The 914 used a catalytic convertor. All CA model '75 and '76 914s have them. The CA-model 912E also used a thermal reactor.

Many 49-state cars also used catalytic convertors from '75-'80. In 1980, they became mandatory in the entire US, whether they were needed to pass the tailpipe tests or not. Quite a few early 80s cars can pass their smog tests w/o a functioning catalytic convertor, since EFI was common in those days, and the limits are just high enough that you can sneak under.

Thank you

a couple lines from the article.

-----------------------

"Under California law, officers can stop and inspect a vehicle if they reasonably suspect that the engine has illegal modifications.

Frost spent one recent afternoon patrolling the streets of Carmichael and North Highlands looking for the signs of street racing: a chassis that scrapes the ground, the throaty whirr of a wide exhaust pipe, and racing stickers on the windows.

At a stop on Watt Avenue, Frost asked for more than license, registration and proof of insurance. Like the other 130 officers trained by the Drag-Net program, Frost wanted to get a look under the hood.

He said the 1997 Acura Integra had an illegal air filter, its suspension was too low, and its exhaust system made too much noise. The car's registered owner, who was not present during the stop, will have to keep the car off the street until the state Bureau of Automotive Repairs certifies that the illegal parts have been removed.

Replacing a typical package of illegal modifications and reinstalling stock parts costs an estimated $2,500. "

----------------------

Does anyone know which law he is referring to?
Also, can they force you to open your hood without a search warrant? Not that you'd want to resist in that kind of a situation.

I'll be making some changes to my track car that is street driven. Remove the cold air intake do some stealth modificaitons that will help diswade the casual observer. Though it's not illegal to have a cold air on my car, it doesn't have a thermal switch in the box. I may even have to put the front liscense plate back on. I've never had it on either of the 944's.

Dan,
Do whatyou will, but I would highly doubt that the 130 officers were trained in recognizing what is and isn't supposed to be on a 30yr old sports car form Europe

"Like the other 130 officers trained by the Drag-Net program"

I would love to see that training, "Make sure the charcoal canister is installed in front."

This is harrasment and eventually will be over turned I bet. Just having your car modified is no gaurantee of street racing. All of my friends had such things and none of them raced on the street.

I bet the industry that makes all of those parts is already lobbying to have laws like this thrown out.

As for the front plates, they are required for CA cars and are completely up tothe officers discretion as to whether to harrass you or not about it.

It could be worse:
Here in my new home of PA you have to have your car mechanically inspected bya mechanic every year. the problem is that the mechanic that is inspecting your car has a vested interest in your car not passing. In plain english, they lie to fail your car and charge you $300 for a ball joint that didn't need replacing. In my class there area at least 90 out of state folks and every single one had bad ball joints on their cars. Funny thing is that the oldest one was a 2002, and when I challenged the mechanic on one of their bad ball joint claims, they started to back pedal.

CA used to be like that with the smog thing before the test only thing came to be.

Trying to register a new car in CA that has been modified like the street racers cars has some chance of failure. Trying to register a 30yr old German sports car with all kinds of mods is easy as they have no clue

QUOTE (lapuwali @ Feb 22 2006, 08:59 PM)

The 914 used a catalytic convertor. All CA model '75 and '76 914s have them. The CA-model 912E also used a thermal reactor.

"Also" could be a misleading term here. The 912e used thermal reactors INSTEAD of a catalyst. 911s of the same era also used a TR, not a cat. The Cap'n

I'd challange that. Freedom of expression, probable cause, lots of reasons to question the man.

I drove a 650HP Big Block 66 Chevelle everyday in the summer as my daily car. Gutted interior, 6 point cage, no hood, loud exhaust, dropped onto the bump stops in the front, arrest me Red, etc. I was pulled over and harrassed, but never ticketed. I didn't street race.

yea Rick but when and where? The new"tuner law" sounds like it's more for stopping kids like Andrew than stopping an adult.

Stickers on the window? Well I'm taking the 914club sticker off right now!

QUOTE (lagunero @ Feb 23 2006, 08:39 AM)

Stickers on the window? Well I'm taking the 914club sticker off right now!

Cops dont usually harass parked cars.

QUOTE

QUOTE (lagunero @ Feb 23 2006, 08:39 AM) Stickers on the window? Well I'm taking the 914club sticker off right now!   Cops dont usually harass parked cars.

I drove a 650HP Big Block 66 Chevelle everyday in the summer as my daily car. Gutted interior, 6 point cage, no hood, loud exhaust, dropped onto the bump stops in the front, arrest me Red, etc. I was pulled over and harrassed, but never ticketed. I didn't street race.

Mmm... 66' Chevelle... My favorite Chebby

QUOTE (lagunero @ Feb 23 2006, 08:39 AM)

yea Rick but when and where? The new"tuner law" sounds like it's more for stopping kids like Andrew than stopping an adult. Stickers on the window? Well I'm taking the 914club sticker off right now!

Not so true, they got my buddy Howard coming out of Intel in his TDI golf.

He's about 35, car is lowered with nice BBS wheels. Wanted him to pop the hood to check for smog stuff on a diesel. Morons.

QUOTE (MattR @ Feb 23 2006, 10:23 AM)

QUOTE (lagunero @ Feb 23 2006, 08:39 AM) Stickers on the window? Well I'm taking the 914club sticker off right now! Cops dont usually harass parked cars.

Except Nathan's...