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California Smog Engine Swap BEWARE

22K views 37 replies 18 participants last post by  Codename Bil Doe 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi All,

I live in the Republik of California where the bar is like a wall and on the other side of the wall is this plethora of fun cars to build and drive.
Been doing some research regarding 2zz and k20 swaps. I recently spoke with a ref and apparently back in April 2019 there was a big meeting for all the CA BAR refs. One of the things discussed in the meeting was about our car. If you are smogging your 2zz swapped mr2 with the 2zz ECU and that has flown you under the radar you may get red-flagged this year. Maybe the ref was trying to scare me but he said and I quote/paraphrase as many as 200 MR2s have been noted to pass smog with a 2zz ECU and will be flagged when they are brought to smog. Unless you're smogging it illegally in which case this is not for you and I am trying to avoid that. If the shop you go to gets caught every car there gets sent to the BAR. I have no luck, so I am trying to get that BAR sticker.

Additionally, the ref told me the below of what is required to pass the BAR with 2zz.

No modification is allowed for the intake manifold.
No modification is allowed for the throttle body.
No modification is allowed for the engine.
No modification is allowed for the header.
No modification is allowed for the mid-pipe which contains the catalytic converter (correct me if I'm wrong).
Furthermore, all emission equipment must still be there.
The only light they care about is the Check Engine light. The rest of the dash doesn't need to be working.

When you apply all the above:

the INTAKE not intake manifold for the stock Celica GTS has a U-bend which means when placed in the Spyder's engine bay it doesn't fit or the firewall needs to be cut. Apparently, no carb legal intake allows it to fit either?
The stock 2zz header in the way of the cross member/subframe so that will need to be cut/notched in order to fit. Ruining the integrity of the chassis unless you weld to reinforce it.
If no modification is allowed on mid-pipe then isnt it sticking halfway out of the car?

Current solutions the bar is aware of and looking for:
(illegal will fail)

Modifying 1zz intake to fit the 2zz engine
welding 2zz flange to the 1zz oem header
using the 1zz cat with 1zz header

Additionally, the ref told me the below of what is required to pass the BAR with acura rsx type s 2002-2004 k20a2 swap:

This part probably belongs in the k series swap thread but I'm on page 23 of the thread... I'm not sure if this is covered in there. What I have read when it comes to emissions is the common response seems to be just get k-pro and remove the emission testing blah blah blah... TLDR doesn't pass bar or smog

Same as above

No modification is allowed for the intake manifold.
No modification is allowed for the throttle body.
No modification is allowed for the engine.
No modification is allowed for the header.
No modification is allowed for the mid-pipe which contains the catalytic converter (correct me if I'm wrong).
Furthermore, all emission equipment must still be there.
The only light they care about is the Check Engine light. The rest of the dash doesn't need to be working.

REF said the biggest problem you would run into is the RSX has the EVAP module inside the fuel tank apparently the spyder does not? Someone, please confirm this for me.

Furthermore, you're not allowed to mix and match spyder and RSX emissions equipment.

Current solutions from research on spyderchat indicate that to fix the EVAP they just hook up the spyder EVAP to RSX ecu?

Thoughts? Answers? Experiences?
 
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#38 ·
Yes, there are distinct differences in the information that is sent from a 1ZZ and 2ZZ ecu. CARB has info on all ECU's stored in their systems (hint: yours isn't 1of10 1zz/2zz on the planet). When the smog is sent electronically, even if it passes, it is compared to what is in their system.

A pass this time can still trigger your car to be flagged for inspection next round if the data looks suspicious whether from your car or people using other cars to cheat.

They maintain a database of all cheats and know exactly what to look for. When flagged, you will be inspected by someone who is very familiar with your car and will have referenced the database of all cheats/swaps/etc to look for before you have ever arrived.

They are car guys, too. They go on forums. When people post online "this is how you cheat", you are adding info to their database of what to look for.

Besides the fact they have inspected more cars than you have ever looked at online in your lifetime. It's their job. They're kind of really good at it.
 
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