"California car" emissions ??

To my knowledge, CA 308s had the same emissions equipment as all the other states, but tweaking everything to pass is a little harder.

In most states, a '78 doesn't need to pass emissions anymore. It is not technically legal to remove the emissions gear but.....lets just say that sometimes the gear gets "lost."

Birdman

 

California has frozen smog exemptions at the 1975 MY.

It's very frustrating!

 

The CA Emissions approval was essentially another test performed at the end of the assembly lines that non-CA cars didn't get. Catalytic convertors are catalytic convertors, and an air pump is an air pump.

If a car is set up to run properly, and has all necessary emissions equipment, it can pass SMOG anywhere. California's limits on CO, HC, and NOx just happen to be lower than most other states...

To answer your question, though - if a car has to be tested with a "sniffer" (i.e., anything that analyzes exhaust gasses), regardless of state, you'd be hard-pressed to get the car to pass w/o cats or a functional air pump. That's not to say that you can't test it and then take it home, remove the cats and replace with straight pipes, and take the belt off the air pump.

 

If I recall, 76-77 308s were non-cat engines. How are these cars doing on smog tests in CA. Owners chime in as I am in CA and very interested in an older car. I'm hoping for a 75 or older but if a non-catalyst 77 smogs fine then that opens up more options.

 

I think '76 is the first year the 308 was imported to the US.

I've had a mechanic tell me they were a b*tch to get passed, but that implies that a perfectly tuned car can do it. I'd recommend finding a top-notch Ferrari mechanic in your area -- one you would trust to work on the car -- and asking him. Or buy a CA car and accompany the owner to the smog check station, as he has to get it passed before he can sell it.

 

<<accompany the owner to the smog check station, as he has to get it passed before he can sell it.>>

it is the seller's responsibility to pass CA smog BEFORE the transation is executed?

does that mean he cannot pass on that obligation to the buyer, even if seller and buyer agree to do so?

 

He can, but you (as the buyer) would be a fool to do it on a carbed Ferrari! Obviously, if the car is being sold out of state, it need not be done in-state before departure. It's just for the re-registration by the new owner - and in that case, it IS the seller's responsibility to smog the car...spelled out very clearly on the DMV website.