talldude Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I'm getting close to finishing the '78 BRAT and am down to stuff like underhood smog decals that show tuning specs and vacuum hose routing. I found out that carb cleaner removes the ink on these decals instantly:mad: Also need the "non catalyst" sticker for the driver's door. Before I go to the dealer and get photocopies and such, does anyone know where I can get the stickers? Fortunately its a non cat fed truck but I have to smog it here in NorCal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooparu Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Me. I can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 What do you need to do this? I think I'm needing the tune up spec sticker for under the hood and the non catalyst sticker for the door. The vacuum hose diagram survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooparu Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I just need to know how big and some images of the decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Local dealer is having copies of the correct labels sent direct from Subaru. We'll go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brat78 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I can't believe you have to smog a 35 year old car. We don't even have safety inspections in georgia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted September 29, 2012 Author Share Posted September 29, 2012 Used to be a 25 year cutoff, but a few years ago lawmakers decided to use MY '75 as the cutoff. Our smog laws are far from perfect but they are helping with the air quality. Price we pay for living here. Just heard from the smog referee and he told me the truck needs to only pass federal smog standards since it is a 49 state vehicle. In fact, even if I wanted to install a catalytic converter, I couldn't. It would be illegal here in Sunny CA, since the truck is a non catalyst vehicle! I've got everything hooked up per OEM and it actually runs pretty well. Still waiting for Subaru to fax the underhood diagrams to the LD. Wonder what the markup is gonna be on 2 faxed photocopies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Called dealer today, Tim the parts guy said Subaru actually mails paper copies of the underhood decals, takes a couple weeks. I'm hoping they are actually stickers...The smog man awaiteth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Wishing you luck getting your Brat passed smog. Have you done any pre-tests on a sniffer?? p.s. My boy loves his new carseats! thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Good to finally meet you too Brian! DMV next week for initial paperwork, smog after that (I'll do a test first to see where I stand), and then I get to pay a weigh station so I can get commercial plates so I can carry stuff in the open bed! Commercial tags on a BRAT, what a joke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Wow that is a joke! I don't ever remember having to do that with any of my Brat's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 DMV today, they said I had to have commercial tags to carry stuff in an open bed, even if the BRAT was imported as a passenger vehicle. Fortunately the fees are based on vehicle weight, so I have that going for me! Also, the dealer got the under hood specs in; they were for an '87 because that was the earliest year they had. Apparently the service department no longer has tuneup specs, either, WTF? We truly own orphaned vehicles- Subaru built a great little truck but they have abandoned us! At this point I will take a copy of my tune up specs to the smog check and that will just be good enough. It all makes me wish I was back in Maine, except for the salted roads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Second trip to the smog tech today. The old exhaust system I patched together has enough leaks to abort the sniffer test. Plus the first test showed high NOx (just before the truck emptied its radiator all over the rollers-bad radiator fan switch!) Everything points to getting a new exhaust system welded up, which I was going to do after all this was finished, but it'll be done this week. Another trip to DMV tomorrow to get more moving permits, or if I'm lucky a temp sticker. vapor recovery system checks good, new gas cap, everything but the NOx in limits. New exhaust should fix her up. Also got the weigh tag- 2260 pounds with a rollbar, HD bumpers, and a 4 inch body lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Got a temp registration from DMV, new exhaust aft of the Y pipe, and put an oem EGR valve back on after a good cleaning. That got the NOx down for the 3rd smog pretest, but it failed due to high HC. Back to the shop, advanced timing to 10 deg BTC, tweaked idle mixture and speed again, got it warmed up and got a pass on the 4th smog check. Would have been easier with a cat but I can't legally install one because its a fed truck. A pain in the ^%$ but a good learning experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nncoolg Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 someone with decent original decals should take a photo of them so we can keep a library here, sounds like it would help in situations like this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talldude Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Turns out the smog techs could care less about the under hood tune up sticker. They have the tune up specs in their books. It was DMV that wanted to see that the stickers matched the year of manufacture and whether it was a CA or Fed vehicle. Fortunately mine was legible enough for that part. Got my plates today! It only took 4 pretests ($20 each), the official smog test ($60), and $107 at DMV. Was it worth the effort? I would say yes because I looked at it as a challenge and a learning experience, but it certainly was a test of patience. Hey, and I don't have a truck payment:clap: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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