Printable View
Hi all,
Just wanted to hear from all you who drive cars with exposed modifications like tunnel rams and blowers. Legally speaking, we're not supposed to modify an engine even if we don't have to smog-check it, but we do. I'm wondering how stealthy I have to be in keeping my engine covered while on the street. What's been your experience? Ever been busted for mods on an older hot rod?
few yrs. back had to get rid of my 1980 el camino because it had a 454 with a 671 blower sticking through the hood and they pass a height law saying you couldnt have anything over 2" sticking above the lowest part of the dash. the carbs. was about 6" above the dash. i had been driving the car every day for 3 yrs. before that. in va. if its not stock they dont wont you to have it. i have 1996 cad. taillights in my 1997 s10 and just got a ticket for improper lights but i didnt say anything because he could have wrote me up for, to low, hood scope to high, windows to dark, no rear bumper, to loud, and most of all, wrong motor. im sure glade i live in a free country. :confused:Quote:
Originally posted by moparfever
Hi all,
Just wanted to hear from all you who drive cars with exposed modifications like tunnel rams and blowers. Legally speaking, we're not supposed to modify an engine even if we don't have to smog-check it, but we do. I'm wondering how stealthy I have to be in keeping my engine covered while on the street. What's been your experience? Ever been busted for mods on an older hot rod?
thanks, mike
ps -most of those things you could get away with on a older car but i think the height law ia a safety thing and would apply to any auto.
Glad I live in the sticks.:confused:
If i remember correctly a cop pulled me over becouse of my blower sticking up to high. He said if i can't see my radcap from the drivers seat then it was illegal. His reasoning was that if my car was overheating i would'nt be able to tell. I showed him my various collection of gauges, but he did'nt seem to care. Dosent sound like a law to me. FYI bumpers on trucks are optional, so they are not required to be street legal.
In Michigan its.. Hood scoops=vision obstruction. Non factory tinted windows. I once had a state cop make me tear the film off right there. No lighting under the car or wheel wells. Noise. The rest of the stuff they don't seem to care about around here. I have never been stopped for no bumpers, fenders, mail slot chop tops or light heights. Gotta have an outside driver mirror tho..
va. has about got to the piont now if it come from factory that way its ok, other wise dont mess with it. we have a to low law and a to high law and its not much dif., as far as the antique lic. go if you dont drive no more than the law says you can that wouldnt be much fun eather. i think they just wish us car people would just go away. :CRY: :CRY: but i antQuote:
Originally posted by BOBCRMAN@aol.
In Michigan its.. Hood scoops=vision obstruction. Non factory tinted windows. I once had a state cop make me tear the film off right there. No lighting under the car or wheel wells. Noise. The rest of the stuff they don't seem to care about around here. I have never been stopped for no bumpers, fenders, mail slot chop tops or light heights. Gotta have an outside driver mirror tho..
Where I live in upstate NY, most cops will pull you over if you have a blower, not to give you a ticket, but to hear it run and ask questions. Glad I don't live in Cal.
B 4 I tore the "Z" apart I set the mock up block N' Blower/injection in place. I could see the ground about 20 ft. in front of the car. Semi tractorz' have a purdy' good sized blind spot too. Blower is only 'bout 15" wide tractor hood iz' 'bout 4'-5' wide. That'll be my excuse anyway. Spoz' they'll buy it?:LOL:Quote:
Originally posted by Diamond
If i remember correctly a cop pulled me over becouse of my blower sticking up to high. He said if i can't see my radcap from the drivers seat then it was illegal. His reasoning was that if my car was overheating i would'nt be able to tell. I showed him my various collection of gauges, but he did'nt seem to care. Dosent sound like a law to me. FYI bumpers on trucks are optional, so they are not required to be street legal.
Hey Diamond . Howz' about a chrome extension for the rad. cap ? He HE HE Then U could see it over the blower. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: **)
Sounds good to me, but I'm not a cop.:D:D:D
in va. you wouldnt pass st. insp. so you would have to take the blower off, get the stucker then put it back on and hope the cops dont care, but one somewhere all ways do. in 1990 i had a 1979 el camino 350- 471 blower, a 1981 el camino 454- 671 blower and a 1970 chev, conv. 454-671 blower, getting and keeping the at. insp. was to much trouble so i got out of the blower bus. so now i have a lt1 in a s10 which is still illegal but as long as i can get it insp. and someone dont turn me in i can ride for awhile, only because its not sticking out the hood. a hell of a way to go. :CRY: :CRY:Quote:
Originally posted by pro70z28
B 4 I tore the "Z" apart I set the mock up block N' Blower/injection in place. I could see the ground about 20 ft. in front of the car. Semi tractorz' have a purdy' good sized blind spot too. Blower is only 'bout 15" wide tractor hood iz' 'bout 4'-5' wide. That'll be my excuse anyway. Spoz' they'll buy it?:LOL:
When I get the "Z" roadworthy alz' I hafta' do is go to the local DMV and give em' 75 bux for the plates. Couple weeks later they'll show up in the mail from Jessie Whites' office and away I go to collect my first ticket. ( No Inspection). Ain't life grand?Quote:
Originally posted by lt1s10
in va. you wouldnt pass st. insp. so you would have to take the blower off, get the stucker then put it back on and hope the cops dont care, but one somewhere all ways do. in 1990 i had a 1979 el camino 350- 471 blower, a 1981 el camino 454- 671 blower and a 1970 chev, conv. 454-671 blower, getting and keeping the at. insp. was to much trouble so i got out of the blower bus. so now i have a lt1 in a s10 which is still illegal but as long as i can get it insp. and someone dont turn me in i can ride for awhile, only because its not sticking out the hood. a hell of a way to go. :CRY: :CRY:
I take that back. They'll give me a cardboard temp plate that day. So I could very well have a ticket B 4 the plates get here. He He He:LOL: :LOL:
No State inspections, no smog checks. Life in the sticks is just fine, ty. Some cops will make an issue about blowers and tunnel rams, but not too many.
Yup, City life ain't the life fer' me.Quote:
Originally posted by Dave Severson
No State inspections, no smog checks. Life in the sticks is just fine, ty. Some cops will make an issue about blowers and tunnel rams, but not too many.
About 5 or so miles from here, there's a stretch of road that has been shut down because they blew an old condemed steel bridge a couple years ago. It runs along side another highway so it problee' won't be rebuilt anytime soon. The dead end road is open only to the 1 or 2 farmplaces on that section of road. Vitually NO traffic. Makes a great test N' tune spot. Some guys even trailer their race cars out there. Can't do that downtown. Naturally I would never do anything like that U understand. HE hE He:LOL:
Michigan has no forward vision obstruction law for "supported" items i.e., blowers. The obstruction law is for those items that hang down obstructing the driver's view (and even then, this is in the window section of the vehicle code). Aftermarket tint is legal behind the driver's window, but most cops use the 35% rule so long as they can still see you through the glass.Quote:
Originally posted by BOBCRMAN@aol.
In Michigan its.. Hood scoops=vision obstruction. Non factory tinted windows. I once had a state cop make me tear the film off right there. No lighting under the car or wheel wells. Noise. The rest of the stuff they don't seem to care about around here. I have never been stopped for no bumpers, fenders, mail slot chop tops or light heights. Gotta have an outside driver mirror tho..
Under car neon lighting is illegal (thank you, as nothing says "rice" better than neon lighting!). Noise is based on 83 dba and I'd challenge the ticket if the cop can show the equipment used to make the decision.
Laws vary by state. Don't trust the cop. Know the laws. Some cops just don't like hot rods.
That sounds very simiilar to Illinois. I figgur' the best deterrent is to stay on their good side and don't push yer' luck by doin' stupid stuff.Quote:
Originally posted by Swifster
Michigan has no forward vision obstruction law for "supported" items i.e., blowers. The obstruction law is for those items that hang down obstructing the driver's view (and even then, this is in the window section of the vehicle code). Aftermarket tint is legal behind the driver's window, but most cops use the 35% rule so long as they can still see you through the glass.
Under car neon lighting is illegal (thank you, as nothing says "rice" better than neon lighting!). Noise is based on 83 dba and I'd challenge the ticket if the cop can show the equipment used to make the decision.
Laws vary by state. Don't trust the cop. Know the laws. Some cops just don't like hot rods.
No problems here in WV. I know most of the police officers anyways. Some of them have some sort of hot rod or muscle car, and they understand. State inspections can be a breeze too.
I just lettered a nutter' Squad car (SUV Actually) and they have a Crown Vic. commin' in a couple weeks, so I'm buildin' up bonus points. He HE HE:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: **)Quote:
Originally posted by Streets
:) I don't get NO tickets, I know the cops and judges and they know me.. hehehe,
In California they are pretty strict on those laws and especially tinted windows and in Redlands CA they are strict one it pretty bad. I think that the cops get gelious (sp) of the hot rods so pull them over to give you hell. I don't know I could be wrong. Big Bird on here is a cop, I wonder if he is cool about stuff like that?
I was pulled over a few weeks back for violating the anti-cruising in city limits law that this crudddy little town has. I explained to him that this was my driver and that I wasnt cruising, I was heading to the theater. Then he asks me if the pirate flag laying on my sundeck had any special meaning, any gang affiliation.
I had to play nice and answer all his stupid little b.s questions with a smile on my face.
In retrospect, maybe I should have shpwn him how my flamethrower worked. He probably would have frowned on that too.
Yeah- what's up with that law ?? I saw that posted the first time I was down there and was a little shocked. You guys need to contact your local ACLU on that crap because it is a violation of the 1st Amendment.
I cruise up & down the street EVERYTIME I'm there & HOPE I get pulled for cruising, and can't. The people up here just floor me sometimes with the "local" laws they come up with. They don't care if it's against your rights or not- as long as it fits their bill they try & get away with it.
A good class action suit would stop that bull.
dont know if youll know this but the federal laws overrides the st. laws concerning the smog laws and the federal law says that you cant change anything in the motor or the exhaust back to the conv. the way it comes from the factory, thats the way its suppose to stay. when they came out with most of these laws, early eights, you couldnt even change the size of the tail pipe, or add duel pipes behind the muf. then they changed it to you couldnt change anything conv. forward. i know this because i had 3 muf. shops in richmond va. at the time and we had to report to the e.p.a. ever conv. we installed, serial # of the conv. name and address, kind of car we put it on and they would check to see if we did what we said we did. they put a lot of muf. shops out of bus. for changing the exhaust on a smog car at the time. about the only way they can catch you though is for someone to turn you in, but somebody all the time trying to get me put in jail. e.p.a. might not be as bad now as then, but a repair shop at the time couldnt do anthing to the motor or exhaust. thanks, mike **) **)Quote:
Originally posted by moparfever
Hi all,
Just wanted to hear from all you who drive cars with exposed modifications like tunnel rams and blowers. Legally speaking, we're not supposed to modify an engine even if we don't have to smog-check it, but we do. I'm wondering how stealthy I have to be in keeping my engine covered while on the street. What's been your experience? Ever been busted for mods on an older hot rod?
Wouldn't that be a kick, pulled over by the FBI for equipment violations!Quote:
Originally posted by lt1s10
dont know if youll know this but the federal laws overrides the st. laws concerning the smog laws and the federal law says that you cant change anything in the motor or the exhaust back to the conv. the way it comes from the factory, thats the way its suppose to stay. when they came out with most of these laws, early eights, you couldnt even change the size of the tail pipe, or add duel pipes behind the muf. then they changed it to you couldnt change anything conv. forward. i know this because i had 3 muf. shops in richmond va. at the time and we had to report to the e.p.a. ever conv. we installed, serial # of the conv. name and address, kind of car we put it on and they would check to see if we did what we said we did. they put a lot of muf. shops out of bus. for changing the exhaust on a smog car at the time. about the only way they can catch you though is for someone to turn you in, but somebody all the time trying to get me put in jail. e.p.a. might not be as bad now as then, but a repair shop at the time couldnt do anthing to the motor or exhaust. thanks, mike **) **)
Here's the code that applies to Cal:
26708. (a) (1) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any
object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied
upon the windshield or side or rear windows.
(2) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any object or
material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied in or upon
the vehicle which obstructs or reduces the driver's clear view
through the windshield or side windows.
Unless it's a rear view mirror or a trunk handle. How 'bout a combination hood scoop, rear view mirror, and trunk handle?
in va. it reads nothing 2'' above the lowest part of the dash, so its just a matter of time before i get a ticket for the 3'' scoop i have on my hood now.