smog nazi's

[Woodz428]

Let me present a possibilty. in the bike business, they made a larger percentage of the modles Ca. compliant..because Ca. is the largest bike (or were) buying state. We would, toward the end of a season or when someone wanted a previous model that was no longer produced, get bikes from warehoses that sometimes were Ca. ones. Those bikes came with all sorts of crap that the 49 state models didn't. Now, if someone removed that stuff because it wasn't needed here, the serial # would syill indicate it was a Ca. model. In this case it was usually evap. system. If the truck had been made for Ca. and was shipped to a dealer outside that state, it woulkd still be designated as having been built with what ever parts were needed to be Ca. compliant. If the dealer or some other entity had changed it to be more user friendly in the area it was sold in...that could be the issue. I don't know anything about what is or was required on diesel trucks of any kind, but that could be the issue. Now that they have computer links, maybe the serial # is for a Ca. produced model that was made 49 state. Might be worth looking into.
But vehicles of the era, I was under the impression, were required by law to have emission systems warranteed for 100K. I know Ford replaced the cats on my '89 5.0 GT with 90K+ miles for free. They were going to do it again about a year later when I went in to get an ignition or headlight switch update. My friend that worked the service dept. had not listed that they were installed in case I needed others later.So it would seem that the parts should be available somewhere. If you had a vehicle with less than that many miles and the system failed and a new part was needed, how would the mfg. be able to correct it?? That would make me think that IF those parts are needed they should be somewhere. there are now universal cat convertors that can be palced into any system, they just need the correct ends attached. That may be your only recourse if one is needed.
Not sure about the testing station, especially if it is a private enterprise. NJ had safety inspections begining in the early 70s and the inspection stations were run by...garages (that's what they were called then) and they seemed to be able to generate some extra income for themselves off the inspections. I believe that after I left the state that was changed because of ....fraudulent acts of the inspection stations. I know that I was failed twice. Once was for too loud exhaust (bone stock '69 428 CJ exhaust..untampered with) the other was because my aftermarket steering wheel was smaller diameter than the factory one. As you can see those were both EXTREMELY dangerous violations. There was no argument against the wheel, that's why I installed it, but when I pointed out that the exhaust was factory issue. They didn't care..it was too loud. I read in some publication at the time that the only way that car would have met the sound level was to stick a potato in each tailpipe. Call me skeptical, but I felt like they were trying to make some bucks off me. It could have been because I was in the AF and they thought I'd be an easy mark, I don't know. I re-registered it here and said screw 'em.