Connecticut registration - FAIL!

[philminotti]

Yes, I failed my inspection.

The day started miserably. I borrowed a 24' trailer that was hitched to a small dump truck to haul the car. Now, I've never driven a pickup with a 10 foot trailer, never mind a dump truck with a small landing strip hooked to it. Terrifying is not the word for it. Backing the SOB up into my driveway took me over 30 minutes. My driveway is all of 15 feet long.

So.

I took Friday off. The big day that has been 10 years in the making. And it's raining. I load up the car and cover it with my indoor car cover. That'll have to do. I didn't tie the cover on. That was a mistake.

Anyway, I made the 45 minute trip to the DMV in Wethersfield driving this monstrosity uneventfully, although when I got there I was a nervous wreck.
One of the assistant inspectors had previously owned two ERA's and he immediately adopted me as his new best friend. Thank God for him, or the day would have been even worse than it turned out.

Ok, time for the lift. I have an under car exhaust, and their lift had quite a steep angle of attack. Needless to say, my muffler got hung up on the lift. We had to jack up the front of the car to get it down off the lift, fortunately with just a few scrapes.

I guess that was kind of a blessing though, because the chief inspector deferred the under car inspection with a little urging from my new best friend. Then they gave me a hard time about the front anti-roll bar mounting points being below the "scrub line" of the car. Again, my patron saint to the rescue.

And then the fiasco about parts. Aftermarket parts don't have unique identifying serial numbers! And if they do, good luck finding them. I'm like "here's the receipts, I bought the goddamn stuff!" My new best friend to the rescue again.

So why did I fail?
Seat belts. Yes, you read that correctly. Seat belts.
Kirkham's belts are labels as SFI 16.1 certified, but not DOT FMVSS 209 compliant. My seat belts aren't street legal. There was no sweet talking my way out of this one. They had given me all the breaks they were going to give me.

The irony is that my car is meticulously assembled. It's perfect. Ok, it leaks a bit of oil from the rear main, but that's a design feature. And I failed for seat belts.

I guess I'll call ERA in New Britain, CT to see if they have a suggestion. I've started looking at seatbelt websites, but if someone has a good idea, I'm all ears.
On the plus side, I made it home without wrecking the car or causing a massive accident. So that's a win I guess

[jhv48]

Swap the belts with someone that has compliant belts and then complete the inspection. I don't have to tell you what to do after you're approved.

[Hrdayz]

Originally Posted by jhv48

Swap the belts with someone that has compliant belts and then complete the inspection. I don't have to tell you what to do after you're approved.

That's the answer right there. I hope the second time around your new friend is available to help out. Good luck!

[RedEye]

Come on... don't you know the state is protecting you from other reckless drivers, upside down roads, and... yourself! Bureaucrats seem to always glee when they can exert their power (kindly refrain from using the word authority) to keep you from the most natural course - and the smaller the department the more joyful they become.

"I told that guy.. he can't just go around driving whatever he wants on our roads without a seat belt! Why can't people just learn.. (insert government worker thinking: "how important we are to their safety and this just goes to prove how eternally necessary we are with our fat tire skin tight flat front khakis to our society's wellbeing and their children's future at college and retirement portfolio, and of course the only possibly means of bringing order to a bunch of nose picking dirty nailed people who don't appreciate electric car charging stations....) that this is exactly why we have to charge a fee to help him remember that by paying a fee he is now eligible for a safety inspection.

Um yeah... stick it where... well you know where.

[Murky781]

Very important here. GET YOU CAR REGISTERED AS A VINTAGE VEHICLE!!!! Composite should be on the title and it is "representing" a 1965 vehicle. If it gets registered as a 2015 cobra you will have to go thru emissions in a couple of years and guess what? You can't with your engine because it's not 2015 compliant. Huge problem I'm going thru now. DMV says it's an emission problem. Emissions says it's a DMV problem. John at ERA can give you all the state paperwork and copies of the legislation that permits this. I was bullied by the inspectors to register mine as a 2009 and I'mm in for a fight now. Stand your ground and insist that you get vintage plates.

[philminotti]

The inspectors were actually feeling bad for me, I think. She asked me what year I wanted it registered as. So, on my failure paperwork, it says 1966. I have thirty days to fix my belts or I have to start over and take my chances with a potentially different inspector.

I'm still waiting for suggestions on seatbelts, other than "borrow someone's". Murky, did you have a problem with yours? Are yours labelled as meeting or exceeding FMVSS 209?? If so, where did you get them?

Phil

[mln385]

Does anyone actually make 4 or 5 point harnesses that have that regulation on them?

[mln385]

These might be an option for you Harness Information » Street Legal Harnesses » DOT Paperwork » HMS Motorsport

https://www.schrothracing.com/engineering

[philminotti]

Thanks for the reply. I actually found both of those outfits online last night. It appears that HMS is a distributor for Schroth. I'm going to call both them and ERA tomorrow morning. Schroth doesn't seem to make a lap belt only product, but maybe they can come up with something for me. I have lap belts only.

[Murky781]

I don't remember anything about seat belts in either car. Both have Crown Ent. 4 point belts in them and I don't see any labeling other than the date of manufacture. My car was registered 5 years ago, my wife's was 2 years ago. There is a lot of new legislation since I did mine. As I said before, call ERA and ask to speak with John. He's there late afternoon. 3:30-4 ish and is very knowledgeable on all this. Peter or Doug might know also, as they do build turnkeys. I wish you luck and DEFINATELY register it as a 66. vintage plates limit the amount of property tax you will pay also.

[philminotti]

Maybe Cashburn at Vintage has an idea?

[mln385]

Originally Posted by philminotti

Thanks for the reply. I actually found both of those outfits online last night. It appears that HMS is a distributor for Schroth. I'm going to call both them and ERA tomorrow morning. Schroth doesn't seem to make a lap belt only product, but maybe they can come up with something for me. I have lap belts only.

Maybe just the lap belts is what triggered the issue, you could always get the roll bar bracket for the 4 point harness style if that will get you thru the process.

Good luck this is a new issue on here for sure..

[STEVE-O]

The next time they will say something about not having air bags....

[1795]

Steve-O,

Good to see you around. Missed running into you at car shows, although it might have been me, as I have not been able to get out as much this summer as normal.

[HealeyRick]

Contact Steve Pekrul at seatbeltplanet.com at Steve Pekrul (877)435-6363. They sell 2 piece belts that are FMVSS 209 compliant. They can custom make you a set but it will probably take more than 30 days. I saw these generic ones with snap-in ends that might work for you: https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/seatb...ucts/23/view/5 I dealt with Steve in getting a set of 3 point belts for my Healey. He was really very helpful and his name is pretty well known on the classic car forums. My belts don't have a label sewn in to show DOT compatibility, but maybe they can provide you with a certification. The prices are about $50 the pair and will at least get you through inspection.

[Mark IV]

Just go to your local NAPA and get some of these:
NAPA AUTO PARTS | PART DETAILS

DOT label on them and they are cheap. Once you are passed by the CT DMV what happens to them is between you and your god.