California smog: GTBi and 4v are ok? Carb cars are impossible?

I’m looking to add a fun little car to my garage. From what I understand the injected and four valve cars are easy to smog but the carbureted cars are not worth the hassle? I know all of these subjects have been dealt with individually but I’m just looking for a quick down and dirty answer. Especially from someone who has dealt with this recently.

Thank you in advance.

 

Never had a problem getting carbed 308s with catalytic converters smogged. My thermal reactor 308 took some fine tuning to pass. My present carbed 308, no problem.

 

I’m in SB. Is there someone up by you in North County? I’m honestly surprised to hear that.

 

Sent PM

 

I do all the work on my present 78 308 GTS and did all the carb tuning on my previously owned carb Ferraris and Lambo (when it required a smog test). All the smog equipment needs to be functional and carbs tuned correctly.

 

I would not buy a carb 308, if the seller doesn't get a passing smog test. I did this for my recent 308.

 

To give the other side, my '83 QV has never given me any smog issues, including the time when the catalyst substrate was broken into chunks and rattling around inside the housing. All things being equal, an '84 or '85 with no air pump is a better choice than the cars before it with air pump(s).

I don't question that the K-Jet dampens the 308 driving experience, but I also don't question that dealing with carbs with California smog will dampen the ownership experience.

 

A1
If the car has all the smog equipment- and working- carb 308’s can pass ca Smog.
May have to detune it, but it should pass. Adjust the mixture. You can always retune...

Mine passed in march 2019

Mine passed each yr before i got historical plates.. then i was never asked to get a smog....

And - don’t bother with historical plates. DMV closed that door in 2019. I did have 6yrs (3 smog tests) of no testing requirement on the renewals

Car guys take note when voting... we need the moving 30yr rule back! Make it a 40yr roll....

 

This is probably the best advice. I’ll give you a shout tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

83, 84 or 85 QV with no air pump will not pass smog inspection due to lack of the pump.
328 has air injection also.

 

Really? That’s news to me.

 

Oops, Used google to get info. Should have looked at manuals.

 

Should have said the 83QV has air injection pump, but 84/85 QVs and 328 employ a "Pulse air injection system". They do not have air injection pumps. All still has to be installed to pass the visual Smog inspection in California.
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If I were smogging an older carbed car, I would look at electric air pumps.

The can driven stull always made me really nervous.....Texas does not care anymore, timed out as Cali once offered.

 

Ah- and there is the disconnect - california thinks they are the world leader in this sh.t. We make rules that encourage homeless by GIVING them 400k per unit shelters - bond measures passed by the ca voters.
Arnold, when he was the governor let pass a law that stopped the 30 yr roll on cars requiring no smog. The cars at 1976 and older got shut out.

Then the genius amped up the rules that all the cars need to have factory smog equip.

Big Tex- thats the problem with your fix.

My 78 308 didn’tcome with an electric smog pump!

Adjusted correctly - you can get it to pass Ca smog... need to keep all the equipment.I

 

me in my '75 GT4 -

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I remember when 308's had to pass smog test in Texas (in some counties now exempt over 30 years old) and we would use an O2 bottle in the trunk and connect it to the Cat Converter. It would pass easily.

 

Just curious, did they demand you to start smogging again now that they closed the loophole on historical plates?

 

Carb cars are cool and all, but they will never be as efficient as the most basic fuel o injection system. Sometimes the fight is not worth the battle.

 

I hope to go EFI with ITB's soon enough. I will miss the sound of the carbs - but tuning and dependability will be nice. And they look just like carbs now the way jenvey makes them. Very pricey to do, though....

 

Not sure about demand but rather requires back to the normal way which is every other year.

 

Yes
Every renewal.. no smog was required.
The lastest renewal for mar 2019, all of a sudden, smog test required...

 

I have carb 308s and they never even hiccup and are reliable hot or cold. No smog worries in AZ, but there are few issues with these Webers when set right they go forever.

 

You have a 308 for efficiency? I have some bad news for you.

Perhaps head over to corollachat.com.

 

No problem getting carb care through Calif smog.

My Calif 78 308 GTS was my daily driver until 1994 (66K miles) at which time I parked it until June 2019 (never moved it, never turned it over only put air in tires). Decided to resurrect it including getting through Calif smog! Blew the dust off, changed the belts no bearing change (they felt fine), changed oil & filter, made adapter so I could prime oil system, drained gas (no crud in tanks except filter mesh), new battery (I had removed old one to cut down on corrosion), changed gas crossover hoses, changed fuel pump (rubber parts rotted) ,filter and fuel lines (had put braided lines on 30 years ago and they leaked like a sieve, changed vacuum lines for emission system (small ones), cleaned carbs (no new parts), reinstalled idle retard switch and points (I removed all the smog stuff between smog checks), changed plugs to iridium, found set of used cats (mine had media removed), flushed brakes (no new parts), lubed the rubber suspension bushings, new tires, cleaned cooling fans (one didn't come on but turned out to be fuse that wasn't seated correctly), reinstalled air pump, got insurance and Calif moving permit, started it (fire extinguisher handy just in case), synced carbs, set timing. Messed with electrical switches (hazard, fan and stalk) and cleaned them. Drove it a bit, pretty much everything worked except oil pressure gauge and AC. Put temporary mechanical gauge on it, oil pressure was great. Took it to smog station it passed with no problem just like it did 25 years ago (guy tested it twice because he didn’t believe it the first time). Replaced O rings in AC, changed AC compressor oil due to change from R12 to R134, charged it with R134, with all original parts including dryer it blows 45 degree air just like before. Everything on car is pretty much original except paint and right fender due to fender bender 30 some years ago.


Driving it part time with no problems. Runs @195 degrees on 112 days with AC on. One very small oil leak, probably one of the cam seals, but not worth fixing.


All told I spent a little over $1000.00 including tires (BF Goodrich) to get it running, driveable and through Calif smog. Most expensive thing was the used cats and tires. Probably took me 100 hours all told. This board and all on line drawings are a god send even though I have a manual.

Still needs cosmetic stuff as lots of paint chips and couple of dents but I'll get to that as time permits.

I prefer carb cars because they are so simple and require no special tools to work on. These things are like tractors. We drove it everywhere including lots of rocky dirt roads (Boady ghost town and the like, bad gas in Yellow Stone where I had to drain the gas and clean the filter in a dirt parking lot. The bottom front valance and belly pans look like they've been through a war)