CA Smog / V8 Swap question... GM or Toy Emission Labels? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 24, 2018
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17
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146
Location
East Bay Area, CA
Howdy. this might be a "yer-dumb, go the to junkyard" question... but wanted to ask here before things got weird with CA smog police.

Little rig background:

85' FJ60. 5.7L Vortec V8 (L31-R block) running MPFI.
H55F tranny.
yada yada.

ALREADY BAR'd (have the doorjamb sticker, showing 5.7L and MANUAL trans)

Went to a shop to have my exhaust re-worked around my oil pan and get the old cats cut out since smog is coming and my NOx is ridiculously high as I have a bad cat.

Shop wouldn't touch my rig, since I didn't have an emissions sticker with the "Engine Test Group" on it. I'd never heard of this before, since I just hit Summit racing for the OEM cats for the engine / truck my V8 came out of... but had never had the issue of needing to prove that this FJ is now (In the eyes of CA) a 96' 5.7L Tahoe. Simply, I need an emissions sticker.

I contacted BAR via phone, who apparently didn't even know I owned the vehicle... and they referred my question to a local Ref, who'll call me 'soon.' *shrug*

Questions:
1) I believe this "test group #" is used to determine the appropriate cats for the truck, yea?

2) Should I get the TOYOTA FJ60 Emissions sticker? The 96' GM TAHOE emissions sticker? Or BOTH?

3) Is this something I need to order from GM / Toyota or can I use the cruiserparts.net / Pick-n-Pull method to get these things.

...I just didn't want a rattly cat any more... and here we GOOOOOOO haha.

Thanks 'Mud.

Photos for clarification on what the tech was asking for / What I THINK the GM label I need looks like:

emlabel2.jpg


0996b43f8020d633.gif
 
Not sure about your situation but I have 2 swapped bmws. OBD 1. Both have walker carb cats that match yr /engine of donar vehicle and have had them replaced at exhaust shop w/out any question/problem BAR sticker has data as you said. Have cats installed,oriented with mfgr part number/spec visible underneath . Do the existing cats have any I’d info on them ? Replace w/ same ?
I’m in SF area
 
SOR sells a copy of the emissions sticker for the factory 2F but since it's not applicable to your engine anymore, doubt it will be helpful.
I think an A-hole smog tech will want to see the GM Tahoe emissions sticker. I'd start crawling around Tahoe forums. I'm sure a reproduction exists somewhere
 
Glad I left CA. The truck has to meet the emissions requirements of the engine year installed. Engine can not be an earlier year than the truck. This may not be as easy as you think. Not only do the cats have to be correct, but the distance from the header to the cat, number of exhaust pipes... in some cases air box has to be factory. In short, it’s a bucket of worms. Oh, and don’t expect help from General Motors. They want one liability for your engine installation so they won’t be giving you advice. On the bright side, it can be done. Just isn’t easy.
 
Glad I left CA. The truck has to meet the emissions requirements of the engine year installed. Engine can not be an earlier year than the truck. This may not be as easy as you think. Not only do the cats have to be correct, but the distance from the header to the cat, number of exhaust pipes... in some cases air box has to be factory. In short, it’s a bucket of worms. Oh, and don’t expect help from General Motors. They want one liability for your engine installation so they won’t be giving you advice. On the bright side, it can be done. Just isn’t easy.
This is why i said what i said.
 
I really feel for the folks in CA that want a swapped or built anything. I have turned down several swaps that would be a CA or CO vehicle, it is just not worth the hassle of it being a crap shoot. Surely not from this side of the country in any case.

I guess the basic philosophy that even not set up exactly OEM like the donor, these modern engines far out perform the motors coming out in regard to pollution. Just too much government intrusion.
 
Thanks for the replies all.

This is why i said what i said.

tmxmotorsports, I get you, but I don't subscribe to that whole "this is negative" philosophy. I believe any problem can be overwhelmed, and all things can be solved. Sheesh, I wouldn't drive a FJ60 if I didn't believe that anyhow. I'll get this sorted. See next post for 411. Drinking from the black cup of 'it's all too real/hard/difficult/challenging' does nothing to substantively help my problem right now. So, I refuse that mindset wholesale, even in the face of adversity.
"Never tell me the odds" - H. Solo.

SOR sells a copy of the emissions sticker for the factory 2F but since it's not applicable to your engine anymore, doubt it will be helpful.
I think an A-hole smog tech will want to see the GM Tahoe emissions sticker. I'd start crawling around Tahoe forums. I'm sure a reproduction exists somewhere

Thought the same. Cruiserparts.net sells 2F repros too. But, they're worthless to me in this context. I think any MPFI SBC emissions sticker will do for me. You're spot-on OSS.

I really feel for the folks in CA that want a swapped or built anything. I have turned down several swaps that would be a CA or CO vehicle, it is just not worth the hassle of it being a crap shoot. Surely not from this side of the country in any case.

I guess the basic philosophy that even not set up exactly OEM like the donor, these modern engines far out perform the motors coming out in regard to pollution. Just too much government intrusion.

NCFJ, Intrusion vs Pollution! Hah. I love that. I agree, too. A MPFI V8 certainly is less pollutant that a Carby 2F, I'd wager. BUT; the issue here isn't me trying to get a BAR'd sticker. The issue is that I simply have an exhaust shop that's loath to change things for me until they have the test group #, so they can determine which CAT is the right one. See next post for 411.
 
Week's Learnings/Earnings:

A trip to a local smog shop (with a friend who does conversions himself) for an official eye on my truck's entire set up pacified my fears.

Since I ALREADY HAVE the BAR sticker, I'm good to go with my exhaust CAT addition, once I find myself a GM emissions sticker from a MPFI SBC, which will show the needed CAT for the application.

- I'm running stock GM manifolds, and all's gravy. (Says CA smog official)
- As long as the FJ is running ALL sensors and equipment required on the BAR sticker, I'm golden with the ref.
(CAT, EVAP, EGR, PCM, SPK, etc.)

I'm not needing to have this thing EVER seen by a referee again, and as such, I can finish my exhaust project once I find my MPFI 5.7L Emissions sticker.

...anyone got one? haha
 
Since I ALREADY HAVE the BAR sticker
I'm not needing to have this thing EVER seen by a referee again,
Help me understand...
So..... you just want to go by the book cause emissions?
Wouldn't a recommendation (for a CAT) from your friend that does engines swaps be enough...?

Interesting that the smog shop went that route eventhough you already have your CARB sticker...
I would have gotten a second opinion from another shop....

Glad you close to resolving the issue at hand...
 
While we are quoting ( I Have A Bad Feeling About This) just about everyone in star wars
I am in no way being negative
Tommy
 
If it passed the test why not just put the but new same cats back on.

No disrespect taken, man. Just saying what I gotta to keep my own mental set proper! We're all in this together, man. Always.

So..... you just want to go by the book cause emissions?
Wouldn't a recommendation (for a CAT) from your friend that does engines swaps be enough...?

It's a weird one, right? Much like much of the DMV dealings I experience, I swear... no one is REALLY 'in the know' and it's all subjective to the ref/official/guy who is there in front of you.

To answer your Q's, Manu;
1) Not 'necessarily.' I'm smog due in July, and want to re-do my exhaust system in total because 1 of my CATs is bad (1,5xx+ NOx on last test, and a wicked internal rattle that's DEFINITELY unintentional 'derestriction')

2) Apparently not. these are two separate entities. A smog shop AND a separate muffler/exhaust fabricator. The muffler shop/fabricator won't take my contract unless I have a test group # to explain which CAT's I need for the truck, since he doesn't want to install illegal CATs on my FJ.

In closing; I believe I just need the 5.7L MPFI / Manual 96' sticker to satisfy the muffler man, and I can get the new side-dump exhaust running OEM spec'd CAT's.
 
@Taylorious why not just go to a different shop? I can't believe that every shop would be the same.

Regardless, I hope it all works out for the best. I'll be going down the swap route at some point for my 89', but until then just chugging along with my 3FE.
 

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