1983 400i 5 Speed # 43665

Is this a recent purchase, or are you new to the state? There are counties that don't require SMOG testing... Buying a cabin may not be on your list of "things to do", though.

I hate to ask, but why not just buy an aftermarket cat and get the car to pass?

 

I agree..why not add cats? Should be pretty easy...and you could even make them removable so you could take them off after you pass. (If there is a reason to do so.)

Too bad the interior is tan...or I'd consider making an offer.

Is that car Titanuim Grigio?

 

Can you register it at parent's, siblings, children's, cousins, in-laws....

Edit: Just curious, are you new to CA, or did you buy a car from out of state then realize it wouldn't pass?

 

What a small world! I looked at this car in 1998 when it was for sale by The Stable in Peapack/Gladstone area of NJ.

I know that it hardly accumulated any miles at all from 1998 through 2005 when it was offered for sale by various auctions and dealers around the country, so I'm glad to hear that it hopefully has a good home.

I had Dick Fritz at Amerispec install the cats on my car when I needed to pass emissions in CT. Unfortunately he is too distant if the car is already in Kallyfornia.

CA is tough as I understand, so good luck in getting it certified (BAR certificate?). Tell us a little about how you found the car and what your impressions are.

John

 

Find Brian Crall, Rifledriver here, and let him handle it.....

May need some hyperflow cats, that's all....

 

Gary,
Where in California are you located? (Northern or Southern) If Northern, and Brian Crall can't take care of you, PM me and I'll give you a couple names of other Ferrari independants that might be able to help out.

Aaron

 

But in Arizona, Phoenix, we had smog in the city but get out into the rural areas and smog was exempt. So I would have people get a po box in such an area and thin forward all the mail to your address. Register the car to the po box and you are set.

 

Similar deals happen in CA, but I'm not sure if P.O. Boxes are allowed. Additionally, to get far enough out into a county where there is no SMOG, you'd be driving *really* far to get your mail.... The CA DMV has a reputation of being a royal b*tch for a reason, and it's not because they have zillions of easily accessible loopholes.

 

Best of luck, my friend...

 

I got my 1978 400 emisions test passed by putting 740i cats on, in a way I could unbolt afterwards. Then tuning very lean to pass, which it did. A hassle to figure out but once you've done it once its easy to repeat. Hope this helps. All this done with a very cool local mechanic. I'll e-mail his email to you if you give me an email address.

 

In the file I inherited from the previous owner of my '84 400i, there is a copy of an old FOC newsletter with hints on how to lean the car out to pass CA smog. Of course this doesn't solve the issue of the cats, but if anyone wants a copy, PM me with your fax number and I'll pass it along.

 

So? Are you going to add cats or what? Doesn't seem that hard....

Does California have a visual identification of a cat or not? Or do they just worry about whether it passes or not.

(Example, in WA, they don't look for the cat, they're just concerned about the car passing at the tailpipe. In Kentucky though, the car could pass the test with flying colors, but if there is no cat on the car that they can see, they'll fail you.)

 

I brought a car into CA from Denver and I don't think the guy got under the car to look for cats-which it had, but he did do a visual inspection of the engine bay to find all the bits that were in the list he checks. If you have the service manual for the car that part of the process will go faster. Find a good muffler shop and they can fit cats.