Engine Certification

[Johnny]

Ken Mayer wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, Dan wrote:
> 
> > I have been playing around with the idea of building a custom car
> > from the ground up including the chassis.  Has anybody looked into
> > what hurdles you need to jump to have a street legal car? How hard
> > to get EPA certification for an engine not currently used by a
> > production car?  I don't think it would be too hard to pass emissions
> > tests, but that isn't enough to get title and registration.
> 
> I don't know about emissions.  You could probably check the CFRs.  New
> Jersey does have provisions for registering a reconstructed or similar
> vehicle.

Here in WA it is pretty straight forward. I've done it with street rods
and bikes. Here is what they want:
Receipts for all of the materials.
Has to meet a safety inspection, the same inspection that is performed
if you are bringing in a vehical from out of state.
They will issue it a VIN number that has to be stamped on the engine and
the frame.
Title received will show the make as you , and the model as custom.

I never had to pass an emissions test with any of them, but your milage
may vary.

Here, it is the State Patrol that does the vehical inspections. There
are a couple offices that are prefered, and a couple that you avoid. The
inspection covers things like lights, signals, brakes (including parking
brake), DOT tires and wheels, etc. Last one I did was a T-Roadster. They
waived the fender requirement as it had open wheels (Mickey Thompson 21
inch wides in the rear). One before that was a V-Twin bike. The bike
inspection took all of 15 minutes. They are most interested in where you
got the parts, and did you pay sales tax on them, and getting the
serial/VIN number and the rest of the paperwork correct. Most of the
inspectors can tell right away if it is a clean piece of work. If you go
in there with something that looks like Jed Clampit built it, forget it.

-j-