Sunday, April 14, 2013

Passed California Smog

Passing California smog wasn’t easy. Even though the engine and Dellorto carbs were fully rebuilt, and even though I had a modern cat converter welded into the exhaust system, it still failed. In fact it failed so badly that my car was classified as a Gross Polluter. It’s the curse of death for any old car where the engine or emission systems aren’t working near perfectly, because now I needed to take the car to a certified referee. It turns out these guys go through your car with even more tediousness, as if their sole goal is to find something wrong and to send you home.

Luckily I have some good friends at British Sports Cars in San Luis Obispo who helped me tune the Dellortos, which had a number of issues I wouldn’t be able to figure out on my own, and then I passed. I can’t thank them enough. Now the car is all but done. A few small jobs like a 4 wheel alignment and it’s on the road for good!