hoping for help from SB100 experts

[SB100FOMO]

I've done a lot of online research on getting SB100 for a custom build Manx style (fiberglass body) dune buggy. Most of the threads on SPCNS for buggies point back to this forum. So I'm kind of cheating by being here, but I hope I'll get a pass from my DIY performance motoring brethren...and maybe it will help others in the process.

Most Manx dune buggies registered in CA are running a VW tunnel with an original VIN, and are registered as VW's. In most cases the only remaining part is the tunnel and everything else is new and custom, and has subaru, honda or even LS engine. So even though I know its been done, I haven't been able to connect with anyone that got SB100 on a buggy, since most chose the path pf least resistance.

I'd like to go the SB100 route:

--- I would like to construct a new home made vehicle, no VW parts, using a tube frame, Manx fiberglass body, and a modern V6 Honda Turbo engine. Since the Manx was not a production motor, how do you get the officials to give you a SB100 for a pre-smog motor? Can I point to a 1964 or 1965 Manx advertisement (the year the prototype and first bodies were sold the public) and say this is a 1965 Manx, even if they weren't sold as complete vehicles?

--- Regarding smog, the SPCNS code states: A SPCNS certificate of sequence identifies a vehicle as one for which the owner may choose the emission control inspection to be based on the model-year of the vehicle’s engine or the model-year of that the vehicle’s body most closely resembles.

If I purchase a dune buggy with a modern motor could I still try and point to the original VW bug tunnel, VIN and year, so that emissions standards are tied to the year of the chassis tunnel, and not the year of the modern motor?

--- Taking taking a different approach, there is one piece of language in the code that might be the most helpful...if it is viable: " If the vehicle or engine does not resemble one previously manufactured, the referee will assign 1960 as the year model"

So for arguments sake, lets say you have a Manx style Dune Buggy with an modified, turbocharged, intercooled Honda V6 motor and stand alone ECU to make it run....no company ever officially manufactured street legal Manx vehicles... and I assembled the motor from bits and pieces (i.e. Honda never produced a turbo charged, intercooled V-6)....would it be possible to claim that the turbo honda Manx Dune buggy "does not resemble a vehicle previously manufactured," and therefore gets the 1960 model year designation? (i.e. no smog req'd)

Big thanks to anyone that can help!