jeff@oblio.UUCP (Jeff Buchanan) (12/15/84)
In reference to the article on engine swaps which I have taken part of below, (a quote from Hot Rod Magazine) > In cases of engine swaps, the BAR (Bureau of Automotive > Repair) has ruled that motors installed before March 1984 > must retain all smog equipment that came on the MOTOR; > those swapped after March '84 must be fitted with all > controls that came on the CAR. You need a reciept or > other proof of the date of the swap ... > [This is for Calif.] I have a question: Normally it would be impossible to prove when an engine swap was made, because the only artifact of the swap is the engine itself. If the engine was manufactured after March 1984, then it must have been installed after March 1984. So that is proof. But I know of no engines that were manufactured after March 1984, and if they were, nobody would want to use it anyway because all modern engines are low performance, low horsepower. If you are going to swap, then you want a better engine, not a worse engine than the one you are going to take out. So only engines designed and manufactured before March 1984 are going to be in question. If the engine was made before March 1984, then obviously it could be installed either before or after that date. Lets say I want to put a ZL-1 (for those of you who don't know ZL-1 was the famous all aluminum big block Chevy 427/430 produced in 1969) in my 1984 Corvette. A very reasonable thing to do, since the 1984 Corvette is the best car there is in handling, one of the best styled cars. Unfortunately, Chevy chose to put in a tiny engine with all the low horsepower smog equipment and low performance components, therefore it has no horsepower. A rat motored 1984 Corvette would be a killer car, especially since the weight of a ZL-1 would not hurt the handling. How are you going to prove you made the swap on Feb. 29, 1984, and not on Mar. 1,1984? And if you can't prove it, is the law going to assume before or after March 1984? Obviously since both the car and the engine existed both before and after March 1984, it is impossible to know when the swap was made. Also, what defines the date of an engine? Since an engine is a collection of components, which component defines the year of the engine? Let's say the block defines the year. Then I could get a 1984 small block chevy bare block, put high horsepower heads, pistons, cam, steel crank, etc. from 1969-1979, all stock Chevy parts with lots of horsepower, and it would be defined as a 1984 engine, right?