NJ Inspections
 

Roscoe,
for once I'm lucky...My AutoKraft MKIV passes all the tests. Are you headed for the Sunday breakfast series upstate when they resume? Jim

Wow, this is a really bad development. Who in the legislature is responsible for this?


Roscoe-
See two lines below the red font in JWheaton's post it says:

"Collector Vehicles are subject to all applicable equipment requirements for year of manufacture and although not subject to inspection, they may be issued a summons for equipment violations if the required equipment is not maintained."

Based on this, it seems that you are not subject to full inspection, but they can give you a ticket for not having all the equipment on the car for the year of manufacture.

And it seems they have grandfathered existing collector registrations, but what is someone with a car still in the build phase supposed to do:( :( This is worse than CA.

Does any one have any up to date info on this...I am about to finalize my deal for a new Superformance Cobra and want to ensure I can register it before it's too late.

Do I have this right? As long as you have a pre 72 block for the engine, you are exempt from emmissions, but will receive a normal registration, you are subject to a full inspection every 2 years, and can not apply for collector status.

Nope, I haven't heard anything since. I would suggest you give Trenton (Special Titles Division) a call and see what you can find out. Please post what you hear.

I don't know if anyone really knows what the deal is anymore. But I can tell you that even under the old rules, that would not be right. Under the old rules, the year of the engine determined what year's emissions requirements the car was required to meet (and what pollution control equipment it must have on it). So if you had a 72 block, you would have been tested at 1972 emission standards and the engine would have been required to have all the emissions control equipment on it that a 1972 engine would have had on it when it left the factory. The collector status is what allowed you to be exempt for emissions testing entirely.

Based on the above change in the law, and assuming they haven't changed anything else, if you titled your car for the first time in 2007 and used a 72 block, your car should be titled as a 2007 reconstructed vehicle, you would receive a regular registration, would be subject to inspection every 2 years, would be subject to 1972 emission standards, and would not be eligible for collector status.


Someone in Trenton needs to fix this.

Oddly enough my wife called DMV today and they said they would register the car as a trailer and all would be fine...that sounds complete absurd to me so I'll call on Monday myself and see what I can find out.

A trailer! I guess you would have to attatch a trailer hitch in place of the overiders, but how would you explain the engine in the trailer? I know, you could say the "Trailer" is used to tow the engine.

New Jersey, a state run by crooks that hires their family idiots as state workers!

And if anyone believes in National Health Care then just imagine those same employees with surgical masks....YIKES!

Rosocoe

Chaplin has it right, at least as I understand it. There are emissions requirements and they are by the year of the block. For older cars it is a tailpipe test at idle. They test for CO and ppm hydrocarbon as hexane. I don't have the numbers handy, but they are the same for all pre-68 engines. They go down slightly for 68 to 70 and again for 71 to 74, etc.

I have a Superformance on order, so I really hope I have it right.

Now that's pretty funny!

Hopefully I can get some concrete info next week...I'll be sure to post my findings.

Your car will be titled and registered in the state of NJ as either a 2007(2008?) reconstructed vehicle, or a 2007(2008) Superformance, Either way your car will be required to pass a safety inspection at a state run facility (Asbury park or Morristown). They will have your car inside for roughly 45-60 minutes, where they will be looking at such things as fuel line and brake line placement, emergency brakes set up, wipers, lighting, and the general quality of your build. After you have passed (I only know of one Superformance that failed the inspection due to a fuel line routing issue), you will be handed your "Kit Car" packet (you did call the Special titles division and request one right), your pile of bills and reciepts for everything pertaining to the car and it's parts/build, along with your inspection report, which you can either send to Trenton, or as most excited owners do, drive down to the special plates/titles division on State Street in Trenton to get their registration and plate issued (on the spot). Engine emissions requirements are a gray area as they will base it off the year of the block, but at times the inspectors needed to be reminded of this. Collectors registrations are the only way to go for your car, and again, the paperwork is the same, but the story you get from the DMV and it's employees varies from person to person. I suggest going to the official NJ DMV web site and downloading and printing out everything you can, stick it in a file, and take it with you at all times so as to cut through the fog some DMV employees seem to be sitting in. Wish you the best with your new toy, make sure to learn the car slowly and not get in over your head. No matter what your experiences are, on track, off track, and whatever you have owned in the past, a Cobra is a HIGH PERFORMANCE, SHORT WHEELBASE vehicle that can and will bite you in the behind if you do not treat it with kid gloves and respect.........

Hope you find this helpful.

Bill S.

Thanks for the info Bill...I really look forward to driving it to an inspection station in the weather we are having lately!!

And no I haven't called for the kit car packet...thanks for the insight.

I was getting really nervous that I was going to have to cancel my order for the car so your post has put my mind at ease (I actually lost sleep over it...I really want this car!).

Any yes I plan to drive it carefully in the beginning...I do look forward to any and all advice.

Can't drive it to the inspection station, it must be trailered in, then trailered out.

Bill S.

Bill,
See above is Wheaton's post where he copied the DMV memo - kit cars are are NOT eligible for Collector registration any more. They will grandfather in old kit cars that had collector registration and allow you to renew it, but new kit cars aren't eligible.

"Da Bunnies" are working on this issue with Trenton and the NJMVS as we speak, so stay tuned for more on this in the upcoming two months as things will once again change, and hopefully in our favor.


Bill S.

That is good news. Hope it happens (and soon).

I am very interested in this issue because I'm thinking of registering another collector car, I had no problem with my two existing collector cars that were just inspected. The MVC is making a big thing out of nothing, most people drive a lot less then 3000 miles a year.

My engine install should be completed this week...hoping to trailer it back to NJ shortly after and then bring it over to DMV...I'll let you know how I make out. I did speak with someone at DMV who will do the actual inspection and he said to expect him to be a real "hard ass" but it's just for safety and they do cobras all the time...not a warm fuzzy but maybe I'll get lucky!