every two years here in california. this state is run my smog *****

 

Welded the old lincolns together again. checked for leaks and couldnt really find any. The metal was so thin sometimes the welder just bored a hole in the **** thing.

Also, finally made that gorram hoodscoop functional, and it looks nice.

But what looks nicer is that Shawn (my buddy with the welder) and I started waxing Fiona, and boy does she shine .... well.... 1/2 of her at least

So.. i've got 1/2 a car to wax and exhaust manis to put back on. i love having things to do for my car

 

when will your car become smog test exempt?

 

never The law has changed, there is no more 30 year rolling blackout. its '75 and before exempt and thats it. Unless that **** law gets repealed or somesuch.....

 

i didnt know it had changed

 

So how do they test, what happens is you fail?

Holy crap over 500 replies!

 

and 400 of them are arin and his jibba jabba.

 

To test it you go to a smog station, they first "visually" inspect it to make sure its not illegally modded. IF you pass this, you move on to stage two

They hook up some satanic machines and put the car on a dynometer (no, you dont get you're hp/tq readings ) and they see how many hydrocarbons or whatever the **** they're looking for are comming out of your exhaust pipes.

I'm not exactly sure entirely of what happens if you fail, but I'm reasonably certain you have to "get it fixed". I do know at least, if you dont pass, you cant register the car...

oh shush chris. you know you're enjoying my jibbajabba

 

There is always a way to make sure you pass the tests

$$$

But it has to be at the "right" place

 

they won't let you "mod" it at all? even if its a 50 state legal product? thats bull!

 

If its a smog legal part they will know, but if its like... REALLY modded (aka, my forward facing setup) then they will know for sure. they arent (all) stupid

And yes Lalo, i know that method. Working on it as we speak

 

****!!!

bad news. put the headers back on and all. on the drivers side one (the rewelded one) two bolts didnt line up, but thats not my main concern

hooking up the battery (disconected for easy access to the pass side) proved problematic. the positive terminal hooky uppy thing on the wire..... cracked
completely off

****!

so i put it on anyways, just to see if it'll get enough of a contact to start, and it does. whoop dee doo. car sputters for a bit, dies. it aint the fuel, at least i dont think so. I revved it a bit, it kept going. the problem here is the shound and the feel.

RPMs are about 100 lower than usual (below 1000) and every so often i hear a click, very faintly. the exhaust, while still open headers, isnt as loud as it used to be, and i dont know why. i had o disconnect my spark plug wires at some parts to put the headers on, but i only ever took off one at any given time. maybe i messed up? i doubt it though, it was one at a time (like i said) it just seems... weird.

it took a few tries to start it and keep it going. I had to pump the gas a bit, start it, and rev it up to about 4K for a bit just to keep it on, but i suppose this is more of having to let the motor warm up.

i dont like that eery click and i dont like the emptiness of my exhaust. maybe its just something wrong with my head. the only way to know for sure is to feel the power of the motor by drving, but i cant do that yet. I plan on taking her for a drive as soon as i get the flat repaired (yes, one tire deflated while sitting there. ****! ive almost been killed by other drivers 3 times today, not to mention this being finals week (only one more....) maybe i'll get around to two new tires for those fox ten holes in the backyard or something.

oh and i also i think brok my dipstick tube while installint the headers. the thing came out and at the edge looked kinda brokenup. i put it back, but it doesnt feel as strong as it should be and im having a tought time taking the dipstick itself in and out.

gargh! not what i needed. i went out to play with fiona for therapeautic purposes today, just to relax a bit, but noooooo. *sigh* such is life

 

bummer, but at least you HAVE played with fiona!

 

fair enough. But looking at how yours is going, it will probably be much better built than Fiona. Sure you're waiting longer, but man... you really took the time to do everything right the first time.

 

Suppose you put a more modern exhaust (hi-flow catted X or H-pipe) and somehow tune it so it produces LESS harmful emissions than what is allowed for your vehicle? Would it still "fail" the smog test despite obviously not being factory stock? That sounds kind of dumb to me.

Maybe it's time to replace some of that underhood wiring - battery cables and grounds. Check the distributor cap,rotor, and sparkplug wires as well? Maybe the heat damaged the wires. Hate to add to your worries, but the possiblity of metal parts from the dipstick tube removal during the header installation is kind of scary. Hope you get 'er running well soon.

 

I'm not sure about that situation, but I imagine they don't let you get past to that stage if you fail the visual. Sometimes California just plain sucks...

The wiring you speak of is a nightmare. Scares the **** out of me. I
m gonna save up my next few paychecks and instead of go fast mods im just going to do some tune up things, plugs, wires, maybe new ignition bits, tires etc

Xmas break is rejuvenation time for Fiona.

 

Arin- Love that avatar man... Love that blue on white!!
I hope you just renew that color

 

Thats the trouble with old cars...you never want to do all the maintance stuff when it takes money from the go fast parts.

 

Lalo, paint in general ain't happnin for a looooong while

Chris, the agony is unbearable lol. i guess this means i have to hook uip my speedometer now too

 

Nice project Arin, keep it up.....i can't believe all the replys man that must be a record. Oh right i gotta go give my own thread a few replys so i don't look ridiculous next to your's...'ya know the thread just below your's....