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Re registering a 76 as an older year in CA


sheggaw

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Just register the car outside of the metro areas. My sister lives in Crecent City (almost Oregon) and has never had a smog exam.

That having been said, I have a '76 that is registered as a '73 due to a mistake at the DMV. I just let the typo go. I lived in LA at the time and that was a huge boon for me. It took 4 years for ALL to drop off at the DMV but things may have changed. I have always felt wierd about the car not being exactly right. Tile is wrong, insurance is wrong, registration is wrong. I sometimes feel that I am lying to cover more lies. I would hate to get in an accident and find out I was not covered. In the end I have moved to another state and still have the '73 reg because it was going to be too hard to change. Besides I may move back to Cali. one day.

Brent

You will have to smog upon change of ownership, or if it's non-op, when you apply for tags no matter where in Ca it's registered. And last I heard from the DMV, 5 years is the magic number for it to be purged from their system...

MJ

75 2002

76 2002

71 F250 camper special

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I had to re register my '76 last year after it was non-op for several years and then lapsed and dropped out of the system. DMV had me get a CHP VIN verification and turn in my blue plates because they couldn't correlate the plates to the car. The CHP officer even tried to help me talk the DMV into letting me keep the blue plates, since they were originally issued to the car, but I lost the paperwork and couldn't prove it to DMV. During the VIN inspection the officer checked the stamped # on the fender, the VIN plate, the engine #, the driver door decal and the top of the column (all match on my car).

As far as the blue plates go the DMV basically put the burden on me to prove the blue plates were originally issued to the car, but the paperwork was lost over the years and I couldn't prove those plates went with that car with any official/Original DMV documents. I even had both plates which, is another issue altogether. If you only have one plate and the other is lost or if the plates are damaged or unreadable for whatever reason, the DMV will only let you register the car with two new reflectorized plates.

So, long story longer... I passed smog, got VIN verified by CHP, had two new reflectorized plates issued (DMV made me turn in both my good condition blue plates before they would issue the new plates) and will look forward to smogging my '76 every two years until the law changes or I move out of the republic of California.

Oh, a few years ago I had a '66 Volvo 122S which was ready for the junk yard and it had two good condition black plates I wanted to try and transfer to a different car. DMV said no. They are trying to get all vehicles to have the newer plates. The only way you get to keep older plates is if you can prove, with original documentation or a current DMV record, that the plates were originally issued to a specific car. The only exception was for personalized plates, which were only issued from the blue plates on (no such thing as a black personalized plate...if you see one out there it's been altered).

If you try tampering with the VIN it's a misdemeanor or felony (depending on what you are charged with) in California. re: California Vehicle Code 10750(a), 10751(a) and 10752(a)

California wants everything newer than 1975 crushed if it won't pass smog. If you do a swap to a newer engine, they want the original emissions equipment OBD/engine check light etc if so equipped from the donor car. re: California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) "Engine Change Guidelines".

Barring all this you can always hope for a typo or mistake by a DMV employee just like Pastellbrent had in the above post. (don't count on it)

Good luck.

'73 tii

'72 (regretfully sold)

'76 (sold)

'08 328iT (better half)

I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.--Franklin Pierce Adams

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The last motor on my flared 02 was a 2 liter bottom end with the 1.8 head and CIS from a 320i. Nice motor set-up. Felt much lika tii, only less finicky. 320i parts were cheap and plentiful. And yes, I did take it to the referee station and it WAS legal.

Before that, we were very ~creative~ when it came to smog checking the same car with sidedraught 45's and a Supertrapp.

BTW- a cat is NOT required as that is considered part of the body of the car and not the motor. At least that's what the rules were back when I did mine. End result was that the 2.0/1.8 CIS set-up ran a bit cleaner out the pipe than a stock 02.

If my son goes the 2002 route, I may suggest that same motor set up for him.

Steve J

72 tii / 83 320is / 88 M3 / 08 MCS R55 / 12 MC R56

& too many bikes

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