I'm moving to SD in a couple weeks and trying to find out as much as possible in terms of legalities, since my car will be inspected thoroughly (cough)

Does anyone know firsthand if these items are illegal or pass inspection:
A-pillar gauge pod?
Radar detector (preferably over rear-view mirror on windshield)?
Non-existent front license plate?
Stock mount (bright red) intercooler?

Downpipe/Hi-flow cat systems? (does it help if installed prior to moving to CA?)

Thanks!

 

So as far as I can tell if it was ok in the state you are coming from it should be ok as long as it passes the sniffer, but I would PM Funkjaw about this as he manages a smog station here in CA.

 

I thought when you move to CA your car must now pass CA smog laws.

Radar detectors in general are legal. If they think it's obstructing your view above the rearview mirror then it's a ticket. It is illegal to hang anything from your rearview mirror for the same reason.

You can have a pillar gauges but to do so is probable cause for the cop to pop your hood and bust you for illegally modified engine / removing smog equipment / etc.

You must have a front plate. Probable cause to pull you over and ticketable.

Painting an intercooler is fine.

Aren't downpipes illegal, but high flow cats are okay as long as you keep the smog pump?

 

cali is different in someways as they could care less if your bumper does not exist, so long as you pass smog. IMO they are not picky on headlight alignment, what is on your tail lights, whether or not you have a front plate.
drivefast7 is correct though, any reason for a cop to pull you over is a reason to take care of it. I never got hassled for the a-pillar pods, but i did quite alot for the plate. Someone else on here awhile back got hassled for different color fog lights.... it all depends on the cop and what they think at the time.

 

Yes
Yes
No
Maybe, depending if it's CARB approved or not. My HKS FMIC is legal.

 

everything you listed is legal except no front plate, highway patrol flipped a bitch just to pull me over and give me a fix-it ticket on thanksgiving a couple weeks ago but its gonna give them reason to look for more stuff sooo,
a-pillar gauges are legal but just gives them a reason to check your car for illegal mods and same with the painted intercooler, totally legal but dont get mad if they pop your hood

 

yep, and it doesn't matter there if your car never had a spot to put a front plate. i had to screw mine to my front bumper..

all intercooler upgrades are legal in california but you must have all of the equipment that california cars require to pass emissions once you move to california. if you live in a non emissions state like florida and think that having a stripped engine will be ok, think again. usually they will ignore the downpipe but i think they may give you crap about the high flow cat, if it has a metallic substrate cat it won't pass the sniffer anyways, no matter how well it is running(california just reduced the limits for FDs passing levels, california has been the leader for strictest emissions in the USA for as long as i can remember). far as i remember california was requiring OEM catalysts, which still has alot of people in an uproar because many OEM exhaust pieces are NLA.

 

Nothing is legal here. We'll be required to buy special breathing permits before long.

 

from a smog techs input:
nothing wrong with a guage pod
some cops will get pissy about radar-detectors, but there is some sort of technical legality, like, sensitivity or something or another
some cops may bust on you about the front license plate, but i only got hastled a handfull of times
nothing wrong with an intercooler if thats what the car came with (you can change the type of intercooler, as long as the emissions devices are there)

as far as downpipes are concerned, alot of downpipes delete the cat, and thats obviously illegal in cali, but alot of them have a place for the cat, again, emissions devices. they say that high flow cats are legal, but not generic ones, i would fail you for a generic cat, has to have an EO number and serial code stamped on the cats shell.

as far as anything installed before moving to cali, that doesnt matter, if the car came with x,x,x,x,x emissions devices and any of them are missing or modified, you would be failed

now, will most techs fail you? yes, but ALOT of them are overlooking stuff or straight up dont know dick about cars enough to even posses a ******* license.

have fun?

Lloyd

 

What magus said is 100% correct but I'd like to add that if you have a generic cat you installed before Jan 1st 2008, you do not need to have an EO number on it because its grandfathered in. Some websites won't even ship high flow cats to California anymore.

 

old school is the way to go. you won't get an "evil eye" from cops. instead, you will get an "oh yeah."

 

+1

also, just don't move to cali, I'm dying to get the hell out of here, lol.

 

Well if you would stop hogging all the pre 73 rotary cars maybe some of us would be rep'n old school.