New Jersey Cobra Nightmare!!!

[JPit]

John
I went through the same thing as you a couple months ago, making all of the same mistakes. You can reference my post in the registration section. You will have to add wiper and heat shields at the very least. Getting the car properly set up to pass 1991 emission will be near to impossible.

I strongly suggest Winslow over Morristown (Asbury huge mistake).

[Cashburn]

Originally Posted by JPit

John
I went through the same thing as you a couple months ago, making all of the same mistakes. You can reference my post in the registration section. You will have to add wiper and heat shields at the very least. Getting the car properly set up to pass 1991 emission will be near to impossible.

I strongly suggest Winslow over Morristown (Asbury huge mistake).

Winslow over Morristown? First I heard that.

[johnarcara]

yeah Winslow over Morristown?

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

Winslow over Morristown? First I heard that.

Jay,

I made a call last night, it appears Morristown had 11+ feet of water in the building (across and down the street as well) from Irene. Timeline for reopening (or if they even will reopen) is unknown at this time.



Bill S.

[johnarcara]

Yeah, awesome right! So, I guess it's winslow, but I first would have to figure out how to do all this work.

[johnarcara]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Perhaps speak with the person you purchased it from and have him apply for a "lost title" here in PA. They will issue a duplicate which you can then use to sell the car to someone else.

Bill S.

So, I spoke to him & the agent at DVM. The past owner said that it would be like I gave him back the car without any money. So, in essence HE owns the car. I also felt like if I went to sell it, that would sound kind of shady. "oh yeah no worries just give me your money & I will have some other guy in Philly mail you the title, & the car is right here in Jersey" It seems lile because of these strict regulations I must fix the vehicle. I did some research, thanks to Mr. Mustang & you are right, the mods are not that hard to install, I am just worried about drilling into the body of this beautiful roadster.

[Cashburn]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Jay,

I made a call last night, it appears Morristown had 11+ feet of water in the building (across and down the street as well) from Irene. Timeline for reopening (or if they even will reopen) is unknown at this time.



Bill S.

What do we know about Winslow? I've got an Oct 5 appointment for Morristown. Thanks...

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

What do we know about Winslow? I've got an Oct 5 appointment for Morristown. Thanks...

I know nothing about Winslow having never been there.

Might want to call them:

Salvage 609-567-0190
Hi-Rise 609-567-0646
Office 609-567-8873
550 Spring Garden Rd
Ancora NJ 08037

On a side note, when I just tried the Morristown enhanced inspection location, the main office number (973-631-6584) all I get is static on the line. You would think that they would have it forwarded to another location by now.

Bill S.

[FWB]

its not only hard getting your car into the system in NJ.....its a pain in the arse transferring a car from NJ to PA.

i had to call my state rep to get my title transferred. all cars coming from NJ are on a permanent flag in PA. physical inspection of vin and title is required.
if no official vin tag is present.....your SOL

In some circles NJ residents refer to residents of PA as wood-tics, well that may be so......but in PA the ongoing statement is "if the east coast was to receive an enema, it would be inserted into NJ"

the bureaucracy runs deep in NJ, no matter where you live, be thankful your not transferring a gun.

as far as the car it may be cheaper to rent an apartment in PA title it there and enjoy the car.......i love government....we need more of it......it enhances our lives so much.

[johnarcara]

Oh yeah, Mr Mustang, did you ever find out which body & chassis I had with my FFR #, I just spoke with a "Tech" over there & he had no idea. Also I have ceramic coated pipes, would i still need the shields?

[JPit]

I just went through this whole process, please listen to me. Before you do any work on your car talk to the individual that is going to inspect the car (whether Morristown or Winslow) , NOT someone at the Trenton DMV. Ask specifical what he will be looking for. The easy fixes that Mr. Mustang mentioned are not the issue, emmissions are. Unless that 1991 block has all the slog controls devices physically on the car it will not pass the safety inpection period! That doesn't just mean catalytic converters. PCV value, EGR, cats, ...etc. And if they are there you still have to pass emmissions for a 1991 car.

I sent you a PM if you want to discuss further.

[johnarcara]

just ordered cats & wipers from FFR, 700 bucks!
so, my frame # is FFR1004508R0 Mr. Mustang do you know which chassis set I have MK2 or 3

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by johnarcara

Oh yeah, Mr Mustang, did you ever find out which body & chassis I had with my FFR #, I just spoke with a "Tech" over there & he had no idea. Also I have ceramic coated pipes, would i still need the shields?

You have a MK III chassis per your FFR VIN number (Jason at FFR tech support confirmed that with me this morning), in order to tell whether or not you have a MK 3.1 or not you'll need to post a picture of the steering shaft rag joint area so I can see if you have a welded joint on it or not.


Bill S.

[JPit]

John, you might be throughing good money after bad. The real problem is the engine not the wipers.

[johnarcara]

Thanks bill,
What is a steering shaft rag joint, & where is it?

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by johnarcara

Thanks bill,
What is a steering shaft rag joint, & where is it?

open the hood, on the drivers side of the car protruding from the footbox area is a long shaft, follow it until you see the "rag joint" that offers the transition from the shaft to the steering rack attached to the lower chassis. Take pictures of any mechanical joints that go from shaft to shaft and post them here.

As for the above mention of the engine, as long as the inspection station (not Asbury) sees that catalytic converters inline, they should pass it for the emissions of that year of the block. Heck, even without the converters installed I've gotten FI cars to pass the emissions tests of NJ.

Bill S.

[johnarcara]

I also heard from many mechanics that it actually may pass emissions At the inspection station. The guy joe in asbury kept saying "i like to see those things". So aparrently its not a law just what he likes to see. He said that about many items on my car.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by johnarcara

I also heard from many mechanics that it actually may pass emissions At the inspection station. The guy joe in asbury kept saying "i like to see those things". So aparrently its not a law just what he likes to see. He said that about many items on my car.

Again I'm really not sure why you had to go through the whole process in the first place. You should have taken the title to your local DMV office and done the title swap only at that time. In 7-10 days you would have gotten your title and then could have applied to the DMV for plates. Again, I've done this in both directions a number of times without any issues.. Somewhere along the line you did not do this which then got you flagged for the NJ enhanced inspection.........AND, speaking of enhanced inspections, in PA you must have wipers and the side pipe covers to pass the enhanced inspection, so I'm not quite sure how the person you get the car from could have gotten a state issued VIN and title without those items. Was he a dealer, or a private individual?

Bill S.

[johnarcara]

He ownes that car s a private individual but works for an ebay dealership that sells cars they got from insurance companies. I had originally brought it into DMV in eatontown & just said I need a title. There was no year in the spot where it says year PLUS the make & model just read Sp. Const.
Either way I have requested my paperwork back since it does no good just to let it sit there since I will need to do these repairs no matter what. In the mean time, when I get the title back, perhaps I should just start from scratch & try it over at eatontown again? what do you think?

[JPit]

Bill, you are correct If John had simply gone to the DMV with his 2005 PA registration they would have given him a 2005 NJ registration no questions asked. The problem is when he goes to get the car's emmissions tested. Not only will his car have to comply with 2005 emmission standards all 2005 vehicles have an onboard computer that the state or local inspection site uses. There are still garages that do the tailpipe sniffer test but they cannot just choose which car they use the sniffer test or the onboard computer test. To use the sniffer test on a 2005 car you must have a special registration to do so.

Bill I understand you have done this many time either way, but how long has it been? Maybe you have a special relationship with your NJ DMV that most people don't have. I am speaking from very recent experience. I took your specific advice about a year ago and for me it was the wrong solution.


I only want to make sure no one makes the same mistakes as I did. I am one of the few people to recenty go through the revamped NJ registratin policy for specialty vehicles.