If your Euro hasn't been registered in CA previously you are going to find it very difficult (read close to impossible) to do so.

 

Saw this one coming. Planning to just drop the whole motor into a clean US L-jet or graft the heads, intake, and pistons onto my curent car eventually. Had another thread on that recently. Either of those shouldnt be a problem, right?

 

I am new to all this and in West LA. My 1983 928 apparently didn't pass smog on low speed only and I desperately need to know where I can take it....

 

PM me and we can discuss.

 

I am too new to the site PM at this point I think but I guess I can receive PMs?

 

Ya, seems I can’t send a PM to you, either. Strange!

 

I left you a visitor message if you can see it

 

No luck. :/

 

This is a normally-effective cheat when your CO and HC numbers are closer to normal. You MUST eliminate all air (vacuum) leaks early in your repair strategy, as even with the proper injector flows and your known-working MAF, false air will lead to a lean combustion condition. All it takes is one cylinder slightly lean to trash the NOx numbers. Find Dwayne's excellent intake refresh instruction (search: Dwayne's Garage) for a simple pressure test fixture that may help you find leaks. Smoke generators are the weapon of choice, if you can buy/borrow/rent one. Anyway, NOx forms when the flame front in the chamber goes lean, and the flame turns into a local explosion. Greg points out that the longer-overlap Euro cams aren't helping at low speeds, when a reversion flow contaminates the combustion mix with partially-burned exhaust gas. Same as "lean" on every other combustion cycle in that cylinder.

Solutions to the false air problem include eliminating the false air.


After that, you can reduce the flame front temp by using some E85. The ethanol in the E85 burns more slowly, effectively raising the octane value of the fuel and reducing the combustion temps. How much E85? It's a delicate balance. E85 has much less total specific energy per pound than pump premium, and therefore needs a larger volume of fuel to achieve good combustion. Your newly-cleaned injectors will help here. I would think that 5-10% E85 would be a good starting point.


You might invest in some direct consulting time with Greg Brown at Precision in Orange. He can share his guidance on fitting US controllers for fuel and spark. Biggest benefit is getting the CO sensor connected and working, an essential part of catalyst survival. That opens the door to fitting a factory catalyst, something that guarantees passing when working with a healthy engine upstream.

 

For a full engine transplant it's gonna depend on who does the inspection but if all of the smog equipment for the US spec engine is there it should pass visual OK (and would in my rural county) however the inspector is supposed to verify the engine model as being original to the car. If they catch it you'll need to take it to a Smog Check Referee and from there you are going to have a hard time. What part of CA are you moving to? Rural/Agricultural counties are generally pretty lax on this stuff whereas the urban counties are much stricter.

 

You still around? How is the car running?

 

Thanks for the ping! Car is running great! It’s been in body and paint for a while now. I’ll make sure to update the gang once I get it back. I also told Greg I’d stop by the shop when it’s ready to be seen. I’m super excited! New trim, new markers, new beading, new paint, new front spoiler, cleaned up rear spoiler, minor body fixes, etc!

 

Did you end up passing smog? I am out here now as well but I've got two years left on my NY reg so I'm going to play that game for a while. I did throw on one of those magnaflow cats before I got here b/c I was feeling guilty driving around w/o any smog equipment. I may take it to a test station just to see what it reads and see if I should bite the bullet and get an OEM cat as Greg suggested.

 

High Nox is usually lean related, maybe you have an intake leak or vacuum leak?

Old factory cats had lots of expensive magic metal inside, aftermarket not so much. The catch is aftermarket cats die FAST if the engine emissions are too messed up.

Almost none of the smog guys know anything about a 928, and seems like most of them hate inspecting older non OBD II cars, and many just refuse or claim "the rollers aren't working" on pre OBD II.

Technically if you tell them an engine has been replaced, even removed and rebuilt, you likely get sent to a referee station for a extremely nosey and detailed inspection. Replacement engine has to come from a newer car that is Calif smog approved and generally has to include all the smog related parts from the newer car. Telling them seems a bit more of a confession than is wise.