RE: Subject: [alfa] CA Bill # AB2683: A Constructive Suggestion

["Peter Webb" <webb.p@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> B) Allow owners to fit _any_ smog related equipment they desire,
> regardless
> of what came as original equipment, so owners could clean up their car's
> emissions to whatever emission level (and mileage limit) they desire.

That sounds way too pragmatic to get past any legislative body ;)

This has urked me for some time.   Now I'm retro-fitting EFI to cars with a
more modern, digital alternative for L-Jet and developing a way to get Spica
and Weber cars to run EFI the emissions police are now going to fail these
cars because they don't have OEM systems.

Here's a perfectly stupid example.   I have the Shankle AL6216 cams in my
V6.   They won't pass emissions no matter what I do to the L-Jet.  With the
MegaSquirt, my emissions are now within spec for an L-Jet 80's vintage car.
If I had stock or 'S' cams, I could tune it *cleaner* than the requirements
for the year.   Illinois quit doing visual inspection for the rolling dyno
test (or an OBD-II plug on '96 and later).   If they ever change that, my
new intake and programmable won't pass.  NB: my F-body buddies just whack
their GM-ECM codes to always read clear, no matter what they do.

With so many variations of equipment, it's hard to keep track of what you
need and don't.   My Isuzu has an EGR and air pump.   Some newer cars have
EGR but no air pump.  Some do away with EGR.  Alfa's AFAIK, never had EGR
but did use an air pump on the earlier cars.  With the programmable, you
don't need any of that.   I bet with stock cams, I could get my Verde to
pass without cats (I run headers w/ dual cats and exhausts).

So I think the answer here isn't to make a practical or pragmatic argument.
It's bombarding them with technical data and experts to support your
argument.  Be that emissions created from aftermarket systems vs. stock, or
the emissions levels for the year of manufacture, if there were even federal
standards at the time.

I thought California had constitutional language that didn't allow laws to
be applied retroactively.  IOW, if it wasn't required to meet modern
standards when it was new, it can't be required to meet those standards now.
When did California start testing?

I'm not a California resident (that could change at any time) but they do
seem to set the standard for the rest of the country.   For some reason, the
Federal Gummint seem to think California have their stuff together and
should be emulated nationwide.

-Peter
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