View Single Post
  #18 (permalink)  
Old 02-24-2007, 08:35 AM
Randy Rosenberg Randy Rosenberg is offline
Senior Club Cobra Member
Visit my Photo Gallery

 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: SF Bay Area, CA
Cobra Make, Engine: SPF #1019
Posts: 1,657
Not Ranked     
Default

I have not read the bill over carefully, however if it is anything like previously proposed bills to provide amnestly, then, no, it does not deal with smog exemptions.

This bill (as well as others that did not pass) is an attempt to get people to correct their title voluntarily. Mr. Morgester has already detailed this, along with the reasons why people should do this, so I'm not going to repeat them.

I would strongly assume that most replicas (Cobras and others) and other custom vehicles (bikes) are titled with "older years" in order to avoid smog requirements. Sure, one could use the loophole to try to avoid tax, but the real reason is to avoid smog. Why? Because many Ford powered replicas have 351 motors with hot cams or stroked, and these will not pass smog, when tested against the standards for "year of block". Even a warmed up FE block will not pass the snif test for "year of block". And forget those with 460's...

So, these folks who have replicas with un-smog-able engines will need to either get themselves a Sequence Number or replace their engine with one that is smog compliant for "year of block". With all 500 annual Sequence Numbers being allocated within hours on Jan 2 every year, if there is no additional relaxation of smog requirements, then I cannot see many people taking advantage of this amnesty problem. I cannot imagine that hundreds (thousands?) of people will swap out their current engine for a smog compliant one just to take advantage of this amnesty. Of course there will be those who will want amnesty for the reasons that Mr. Morgester gave, and for those, they will have to make their replica smog compliant or acquire a Sequence Number.

I'm not advocating that people to not self-correct, however I am cautioning those who choose to self-correct that making your replica smog compliant may not be easy, and will most likely get harder as the 500 annual Sequence Numbers become harder and harder to acquire. Self-correcting last year was easier than this year, and next year will be harder than this year. The year I corrected my replica's title, I acquired my Sequence Number in April, and the last Sequence Number that year was not allocated until June.

Last, I was given last year a copy of the BAR "policy" which you can find here:

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...mogChk-pg1.jpg
http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...mogChk-pg2.jpg

I was informed that this policy is not an official formal policy. And I've been contacted by fellow Cobra replica owners that some BAR referees have denied it's existence and will not follow it. Obviously, when we don't even have a clear understanding from BAR, and when each BAR referee acts independently, making a vehicle smog compliant will be difficult.

Regards,
Randy R...
Reply With Quote