California smog: GTBi and 4v are ok? Carb cars are impossible?

Tune them well and they cruise SMOG and run terrific!! The downside to all of these machines is knowing what they need, meaning you have to figure out what's wrong and this can be frustrating. There's a lot of things that make them run dirty. Not just cats. Start with making ignition as perfect as possible. Having the two banks working in unison does great things to lower emissions. Can't have a cylinder bank dragging or pushing. Carbs must be clean. A dirty carb limiting fuel causing a lean condition is terrible to balance with high emissions. Injectors which are dirty and stream fuel as opposed to spray will run awful with corresponding SMOG failures. AIS (Air pumps) must be good. They must actually pump air. Ferrari has a spec for pressure. IIRC like ~8psi @ 5K rev's. I've seen many crummy pumps barely pushing 0.75 psi. The "cracking pressure" of the check valves is aprox 1/2 - 1 psi. If no air is getting into fresh exhaust to further the burning, pollution skyrockets. My carb car blows zero's and runs excellent. There was a day when I had a hell of a time. The list of issues was long and tricky. As I conquered each one, it ran better and better. Now I just stay on top of it, and this carb car has been a sweetheart for over 30 years.

To the original poster: I hope you find a car you like and aren't steered away due to reg's.

 

A1+
Keep it in tune - correctly- keep the equipment- it will pass.
More hp, and sounds good - you can hear the carbs sucking in* the air.- but not as good as the 365gtc4, its the best in the sound department!

 

And part of keeping it tune is to drive it regularly.