I screwed myself over!
 

So, I moved from North Carolina back to California.
And now, the 280 is illegal. I can't pass smog.
Why? The stupid pipes are not original.

Anyone willing to part with a stock j-pipe and Turbo airbox to help me out?

Or at least give me some suggestions.
Or I guess buy my car?

I am incredibly stressed over this.

Go to a smog ref and get them to sign off on it.

Pipes? Pipes? Which "pipes"?

I assume you mean intake? If you need a j-pipe, I guess that means you have an intercooler, and they are failing you for an intercooler?

I hate guessing games... :D

Smog ref would be even worse. They will pick apart my car piece by piece.

Pipes! Yes I mean intake pipes.

J-pipe: turbo outlet to throttle body
Air box
Pipe from air box to AFM
and
Pipe from AFM to turbo inlet.

And while I am at it, I need a stock fuel pressure regulator too.


I basically need to make it look like a stock turbo nissan.

Simply taking out the intercooler and routing the pipes directly to the intake
does not satisfy them. It HAS to be original.

Either that or I need to find a shady smog guy that would let me do it.

How do they know what's "stock" ? Are they 280zx experts?

Aluminum bent tubing and silicone couplers are clearly non-stock.
Neither is a cone filter.

The fact that they are not 280zx experts is how I can claim that the Turbo itself is stock.

I suppose I can maybe get an aluminum u-bend and scuff it up and paint to look OEM.
But I will need an airbox and the hose that goes from it for sure.

Edit:
That is what I will have to do with the Honda that I have. Get OEM looking parts together.
But I knew I would have to jump through some hoops for that one.
I did not expect the 280 to be such a big deal to them.
The first Smog guy I took it to was complaining about the silicone vacuum hose! Wtf!

A front mount i/c shouldn't give you any issues since IIRC it isn't an issue with the inspection. The only thing that needs to be present is the stock intake setup. Provided you have the stock intake pipe and the all emissions equipment, you should pass with no problem. If a tech gives you grief over vacuum hose color, I'd suggest finding a different place for your test.

Yeah. I already found a new tech, smart enough not to bug me for the hose color.
But none of them want to bend the rules in any way what so ever!

The intercooler is a huge problem because they are even giving me crap for non-stock J-pipe. He was even complaining that I took off that valve that ads more air at idle when the AC is running!

How long ago did you move? if you still have family/friends in raleigh, you could try and reg the car for nc... I know a guy that did that from ny to nc, but had to drive back and forth there once a year

That is my fallback plan.
But not in Raleigh, there I need inspection every year.

I will register them with a buddy in Orlando.

I hope it won't have to come to that.

what Part of California are you at right now?

It's also illegal if you get pulled over I'm pretty sure. Be careful :wink:

yay California!

Buy a 1972 240Z body in Washington and get to work transferring the drivetrain over. ;)

Border of San Jose and Jos Gatos.

Not that far from you I guess.

Yeah, but the holes in the roof are hard to transfer.

I might be okay.
Yesterday, I got the stop airbox and piping from Borini. And my Honda passed yesterday morning too even though it has a swapped engine. The tech did not recognize that an H22 does not belong in there. Ha!

Did you go to a "Gold" station or a "test only" station? I've never heard of anyone failing smog due to a cone filter. Well, you have some other things going on... But to point that out is just crazy.

...a sunroof is undesirable in the S30, not something you want. :D

Well.Today....
I PASSED!

I put in the stock pipes (J-pipe and AFM to turbo inlet), stop fuel pressure
regulator, and stock airbox.

Just in case, I disconnected the wastegate on the turbo so that it never
spools up.

The car then passed just fine.


Now to put everything back.

However, I think my distributor is breaking. I will make another tread about it I though.

Disconnecting the wastegate hose prevents it from opening. If you want the turbo to never spool up then I think you would want to open the wastegate.

Ran it lean, less smog! lol

I did not say I disconnected the wastegate hose. I am not an idiot.
I disconnected the wastegate rod that connects to the valve on the turbo.
That way, the little valve always remains open and the exhaust bypasses the turbo.