REJECTED 75 Eldo 8-(

[Jeff Wilk]

Uh Oh....so much for trying to make my new 75 Eldo Conv a daily driver without Historic Plates.  For regular plates the car requires a State Emissions test.  It just failed with the HFCM's bein 1200 when the limit is 300.  What Do I Do???  Car was just fully tuned up and had the carb fully rebuilt.  How do I lower the emissions levels so it can pass inspection?
Need the help as now the car must wear a nice red REJECTED sticker on the windshield

Jeff

[bcroe]

For openers I'd get a nice new monolithic 3" cat converter.  I found these work best new, gradually pass more emissions with age.  Get the carb right, make sure there are no vacuum leaks (which could really mess up a cylinder on the runner).  A clip on vacuum advance to limit the maximum advance might help idle; retarding spark can help emissions.  Hope your timing chain has been replaced; an original is a liability all around.  Different states limit what is possible.  good luck, Bruce Roe

[mgrab]

Not sure if you can get away with this anymore.....when I drove my 56 Olds back in high school I registered and insured as daily.  Long story short one year got inspected by guy with a bug up his butt for old cars and said "well even though its putting out the emissions of a 6 year old car....still can't pass it."  So I got historic tags and kept the daily insurance (figured that was the most important to have).  Oh but I also ripped off the stock exhaust and added duals with glasspacks......bad taste in my mouth after doing the right thing.  Many trouble free miles cops liked looking at it more than analyzing if it were being used for "exhibitional or educational purposes."  The way things are going though good luck...getting to be too many people out there that would rather see our cars crushed...
Mike

[Jim Beard]

Move to Illinois, you can drive a car with rust up to the roof and have the engine spewing oil and smoke like the batmobile defenses and nobody will bother you.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Same for Georgia. Emmissions tests are only given in certain counties - usually in the greater Atlanta area. Those test only apply to cars 25 years old and newer  (currently 1985) and the cars only have to meet the standards for a car of its vintage, not the modern standards.

[bill henry]

No emissions check what so ever in my county of pennsylvainia

[RobW]

Jeff here in the NY Metro area I've seen inspectors lean out the mixture screws, turn down the idle, retard the timing and use a top end cleaner or even water or club soda sucked through the intake to "clean" things up a bit.
What type of emissions test are they doing? Is it just a tailpipe sniffer in park or is it the sniffer on the dyno?
Try asking around at local cruise nights and car shows. There are places that will make it pass.

[Chris Conklin]

What is the issue with having historic plates? Is it expense or are there driving restrictions as well?

[Otto Skorzeny]

January?  What the hell does that have to do with anything? Leave it to government to come up with convoluted rules that serve no purpose.

[Jeff Wilk]

Issue here in NJ is that with Historic or Collector plates (they offer both in addition to regular plates) that you have a mileage restiction and age restriction with the Insurance Companies.  I just heard of Haggerty (been a JC Taylor customer) and understand they may not have the mileage limits.  If so, I may go for the Historic Plates afterall, but that means that some can't drive the car for a few more years.  Not what I had planned as they love the 75 Eldo. 

[TJ Hopland]

15 years ago when we had those tests in my area I could have told you what to tweak depending on what you failed but thankfully its been almost that long since I had to deal with that stuff.  I do remember that backing up the timing was a common solution. Most of the time it made the car difficult to drive but it was usually easy to put things back once you passed.  Getting rid of those tests was one smart thing our state did.  Too bad they made up for it with a bunch of other stupid rules.  By the last few years of our testing all they wanted was the money and to waste some of your time. They hardly even looked at your car as long as your check/payment was good.

Ya got to watch the special plates and insurance.  Friend of mine got rear ended by a 'classic' and the insurance did not pay because it was a weekday near the guys work so they determined that he was not using the car properly.  My friends insurance ended up paying to repair his car as a uninsured motorist sort of deal.  I dont remember who the classic insurance co was but I do remember it was one of the more well known ones.   Just another reason mine are all regular plates with minimum insurance.  None of mine are 'show' cars, they are all drivers. 

[mgrab]

Jeff, I’m in Jersey as well.  My post above is what I did.  You might be able to get historic tags and insure as a daily driver and get away with it.  I now have Hagerty on the car since I have modern daily transportation now.  Especially with all the new cuts in inspection and DMV….who knows may be easier now.  But with the historic tags its MUCH cheaper to register and no inspection whatsoever. Good Luck,
Mike