AE86/RA65 bolt-patterns & GZE swaps

[Aaron Willis]

Paul S wrote:

> Hey Folks...
>     In California, if you swap engines, the car must pass smog for the year
> and model of the new engine, not the smog requirements of the chassis.  So
> every smog device on a 4A-GZE from the CALIF Spec motor, must be (and
> working) with the transplanted motor...even down to the fault codes on the
> check engine light.  Once the transplant is complete, you then go the
> Referee station and have them go over everything with a fine tooth comb.  If
> you've done it right, you then get to pass.  It can be done, but it does
> take some work.  It is also can be done if you have an smog shop that
> doesn't know too much about the car.  i.e. a friend of mine has a 1980 VW
> Scriocco. Came stock with a 1.7 8 valve motor.  He put an 87 1.8 16v motor
> in the car, and did it with all the smog stuff intact and functioning.  Some
> places won't deal with it, but other places (Sears) have no trouble passing
> it.  So who knows...
>
> Best of luck,
> Paul S.
> 1986 AE-86 GTS
>

(old messages deleted)
Swapping a supercharged MR2 4A-GZE into an earlier 4A-GE (atmo) Corolla...

   Thanks Paul, I'd forgotten about the ignorance factor. This happened to a
friend of mine, who also likes playing with German cars. He swapped a 16V (maybe
even EFI rather than mechanical injection like the Rabbit had) motor into a
Rabbit, and it passes easily at the local smog shop, because the guy just
doesn't know what he's looking at. Sometimes they just check for equipment,
check the tailpipe and go...I've never had my numbers checked in any of my smog
checks, but then I don't have a blower hanging off my engine either...
   Do we have any smog techs out there who can say whether a trip to the Ref
will be required right away? I know the state can really mess things up if you
don't jump through the hoops the right way, but they never tell you what the
right way is...

Aaron