Welcome to our nightmare!
Here in the Peoples Republic of California, smog checks came slowly, only in
the most polluted areas (read LA and SF) of the state. First. Now of course
they are everywhere, government being what it is...
The rules here, and it appears that we have the "model program" that the Feds
want to copy (Oh great, just what we need) to apply to everyone else, are
simple.
If the smog equipment has been removed or tampered with, no waiver, no cost
limit, no mercy.
If there is an engine swap involved, you *might* get a grace period to
establish the legitimacy of the swap having been done before the rules and
thus get a permanent waiver. But since _Federal_ law has prohibited
"tampering" with emisions for several years now, don't hold your breath. In
the _absence_ of a waiver, our rules say that the Newer component sets the
standard of emmisions that applys ie: a 73 B with a 68 motor will have to
pass 73 smog rules, sniffer, visual, and all!
Hope for your own sake they give a waiver/grace period. If they do, run,
don't walk, to get it "grandfathered" before they change their minds. Here,
they gave a grace period, then cut it off, so the PO of one of my cars, who
had it off the road at the time, never got a waiver.
This resulted in the car being illegal, short of an engine swap, several
$$$$$$$ of smog gear, etc.
My cure is to drive an earlier car, 65s and earlier are not molested under
our rules....
Smog stuff is available, for a price. If you are gonna need it, better get it
before the other folks in your neck of the woods decide they need it too!
(supply and demand, you know...)
Better cure? Impeach them all, I suppose, or suceed from the union.
Good Luck
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