1st step complete - ERA805 has a SPCNS

kbmyers · #1 (**permalink**) 10-04-2016, 07:44 PM

First trip to the CA DMV today was a success - I'm now the proud holder of sequence #234 for the year. Looks like there is no chance of them running out this year so any worries I had about that were unfounded.

The woman who helped me hadn't done one of these before, but she was patient and took her time reading up on what she needed to do and talked to her manager a couple of times. I had a bit of a scare when the clerk next to her overheard us and decided to "help" by saying "SB100? You'll need a smog check on that one, and no, we won't call Sacramento to get a sequence number - that's not how it works". Luckily, the person helping me ignored her and continued reading the guide on what to do. I probably would have had a much longer day had the other woman been doing the paperwork.

Next step is a brake and light inspection!

66gtk · #2 (**permalink**) 10-04-2016, 08:58 PM

Nice! Glad you got somebody willing to actually do their job. You should write a letter of praise for her to her boss.

kbmyers · #3 (**permalink**) 10-05-2016, 01:05 PM

Second step complete! Brake and Light inspection. A few tips for anyone who needs one of these. The BAR website has a search function for finding authorized stations in your town. Even though it claims to be up to date, CALL THE SHOP before you show up. I found two shops that said they didn't do inspections any more and one shop that said they did, but the one guy who is authorized is on vacation for two weeks.

There was a big shop just around the corner from me, but they had fairly poor Yelp reviews so I visited in person before I brought the car over. Glad I did, the desk guy said he'd have to get his manager and the owner involved and made it sound like a big deal. When I told him it was a replica Cobra he immediately raised his prices 50% from the posted rate! Yeah buddy, enjoy your negative Yelp reviews, I'm going elsewhere.

Found a guy in the next city over and it went very smoothly. At first he thought he'd get in and be driving the car, but quickly changed his mind and had me get and and he told me what to do. He looked at the safety-wired pin drive wheels and decided he didn't need to take them off and that he could inspect the brakes through the wheels. No issues with not having backup lights once I reminded him it was a replica of a 1965.

$107 later I had my certificates.

ACHiPo · #4 (**permalink**) 10-31-2016, 09:42 PM

Kent,
Your story is making me feel much better about this journey. Thanks!
AC

kbmyers · #5 (**permalink**) 11-01-2016, 09:32 AM

Next step went smoothly as well. CHP inspection. Gave him all my paperwork and he spent about a half hour going over the car. Since mine has all new components it was pretty straight forward. Luckily the officer helping me was a "car guy" so we spent a fair amount of time just talking about the car and ERA, since he had only seen Factory Fives.

Nice thing is he considered the badging sufficient between the frame tag and the plaque on the firewall so he did not issue me a new VIN sticker. My ERA issued serial number is my official VIN.

RodKnock · #6 (**permalink**) 11-01-2016, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbmyers

Nice thing is he considered the badging sufficient between the frame tag and the plaque on the firewall so he did not issue me a new VIN sticker. My ERA issued serial number is my official VIN.

Not every CHP officer will allow/follow just calling the inspection with just using the frame tag and firewall plate acceptable.

In order to get in front of this issue, my install shop, knowing the fickleness of the CHP officers, had a VIN tag installed with my KMP serial # tagged on one of the frame supports in the engine compartment, IIRC, since theoretically, it must be visible to the eye when the hood is open. Otherwise, you could be at the mercy of where the CHP officers installs these VIN tags. Just an FYI.

kbmyers · #7 (**permalink**) 11-07-2016, 08:53 PM

...Aaaannd I'm done! Met with the BAR referee today and that went smoothly. Glad I figured out how to add a PCV valve to an 8-stack induction system since that seemed to be the main thing he was interested in under the hood.

Since that finished up pretty early I headed over to the DMV and after a 2 hour wait the paper work was finished and I should be getting my plates in the mail.

Woo Hoo!