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| California Smog Test | Rating: 
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| Posted: 08-10-2012 11:43 pm |
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1st Post |
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wtberks Member
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I am one of the rare unlucky ones that still have to get their car to pass California's emission tests. They require a test for any car manufactured after 1975 and thus, my 1976 GT is the first year requiring a test. The car has been in storage for the last five years as I was in the process of getting it tested five years ago when I managed to break something on the engine. Well, five years later I am back trying to get it certified. The car has a set of Greg's re-manufactured Strombergs on it as well as the factory air pump and a catalytic converter. All is well except that I cannot lean the carbs out enough to get even close to passing. I have the nifty Stromberg jet adjusting tool as well as an old CO tester. They tell me that I need to get it down to somewhere around 2.5%, right now I am at 11%. The guy at the test station simply told me that it will never pass the test as these older cars just always run a bit rich. He suggested that I put it back into storage until next year as they may be moving the exempt years to 81 and before. However, I really want to drive this car. One option is to take it to a garage that can tune it right. I live in Long Beach and am looking for a local mechanic. Any suggestions?
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| Posted: 08-11-2012 05:00 am |
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2nd Post |
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Jensen Healey Super Moderator 
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There are a few mechanics listed in the tech section: http://www.jensenhealey.com/html/repair.html The smog exemption will not be changing anytime soon, the bill was shelved.
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| Posted: 08-11-2012 06:45 am |
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3rd Post |
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wtberks Member
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Jensen Healey wrote:The smog exemption will not be changing anytime soon, the bill was shelved. It is so hard to convince people that cars built before 1982 are not driven because they are cheap to own and operate. All of those cars can generate lots of money in taxes generated by the various businesses that keep them running. Besides, how many cars that old are still on the road and how much pollution can they generate? OK, off my soapbox now. I'll contact the shops on the list and see what they can do. Thanks for the info.
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| Posted: 08-11-2012 09:38 am |
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4th Post |
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JodyKerr Member 
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Run alcohol for the test instead of gasoline. :)
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| Posted: 08-11-2012 05:14 pm |
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5th Post |
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wtberks Member
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Maybe I can convince my brother, who lives in Eureka, to "own" the car. Eureka, which is in Humboldt county, does not require smog testing of older cars. Then I can lighten the car by "storing" the catalytic converter, air pump, and air injectors.
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| Posted: 08-11-2012 05:31 pm |
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6th Post |
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JodyKerr Member
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I'm serious about the denatured alcohol. Get the car good and warm. Run the car down to around 1/4 of a tank, get the big container of denatured alcohol from the local Ace/Home Depot/etc. Pour it in to the fuel tank. Go through emissions. Then fill the tank with super and drive it until it's empty or drain the tank if it's going to sit a while.
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| Posted: 08-17-2012 06:59 pm |
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7th Post |
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Greg Fletcher Administrator 
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That's an unfortunate situation Bill. If the engine is in excellent condition, it should pass the California test. Clubber Steve Pike, who used to fix JH's out in the Shadow Hills area of Los Angeles had a great fix. He told me he did this many times, to many Jensens and it never NOT worked, even with old engines. He simply installed a generic catalytic converter and voila, it passed each time. A catalytic converter would need to be "fresh" before the test to make this work. If it's been on the car for any length of time it gets too contaminated to lower the emissions.
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| Posted: 11-17-2012 09:08 pm |
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8th Post |
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wtberks Member
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Yes, a new catalytic converter did the trick. The car passed emissions testing. Yeah!
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| Posted: 11-18-2012 06:21 pm |
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9th Post |
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Jensen Healey Super Moderator
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Congrats! Two years of Jensening until the next test!
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| Posted: 08-12-2018 07:13 pm |
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10th Post |
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noomg Member
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I realize I'm responding to a thread that's six years old, however CA smog testing is the gift that keeps on giving, so by my calculation you either just got your test or you're just about too. BTW, I also live in Long Beach too. While my '74 J-H is now smog exempt I do have a '79 TR-7 with almost the same Zenith set up so I'm familiar with getting these things through smog testing. I'm surprised you weren't able to pass without having to swap your cat converter. It seems like you'll have to swap your cat every two years. I've always been able to pass by leaning the carbs just prior to test. The Zeniths have an adjustment range of around 3&3/4 to 4 turns, I normally run about 2&1/2 turns from lean I usually take them down to about 1&1/2 turns for the test, that normally does it.
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| Posted: 08-14-2018 03:24 am |
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11th Post |
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wtberks Member
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I got the car back on the roads quite some time ago. To ensue tht it passed smog, I took it to John Haines shop, the Brittish Connection. He wold pre-test it, tune it to pass smog, and return it to me running better than ever. I still had to replace the cats every couple of years because they keep getting crushed by speed bumps and steep driveways. The original cats were flat, but those are long out of production. However, I did find another way to get my car to pass smog. I moved from Long Beach to Paso Robles. My car is now officially at my brother's house in Eureka which is in Humboldt county. Humboldt county only requires a smog test when transferring title, thus my car no longer needs testing.
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| Posted: 08-14-2018 03:24 pm |
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12th Post |
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Max_dvdt Member
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Again old thread.. but in this situation I think I'd ask someone for a pre 74 parts car ID plate and then non-op the real car and make the claim that this car was the restored parts car (GT or not hmmmm) If the parts car was a california car there would never be an inspection to verify
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| Posted: 08-15-2018 03:25 pm |
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13th Post |
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noomg Member
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That's an interesting idea, it's called switching VINs, very popular with chop shops. Unfortunately it's illegal in all 50 states. Whatever you do with that donor '74 J-H(non-op, crush, or whatever)that VIN has to go with that car.
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