What Part Is Considered the Car?

[solrac]

If u have ppl in other states where they don't require smog or things like that the just register it there and keep it like that . I have a friend who own property in Washington. Up north they don't require smog so he has his truck register in Washington and just drives it here with Washington plates. He has had it like that for over 10yrs and no problem. Just make sure u have insurance. Lol

[BigPines]

76mx, thanks but whatever frame/chassis I use, I plan to make/modify it myself. It is just too much money to buy a custom chassis from anyone.

solrac, I gotta get out of Cali! What a screwed up place.

Another possible solution is build a custom chassis and get it registered in another state (like AZ) which will give me (or more accurately, an AZ resident helping me) a VIN. Than all I have to do is bring it into Cali. They will almost certainly require an inspection but will it require smog? Would I still have to jump through all the SB100 hoops? Maybe there is no avoiding that. *sigh*

[solrac]

I live in California as well. And as far as I know about car laws is that u can change as much as u want in the car (body wise) but u can't alter the original look. So u can put big fenders body kits from wing west lol but it has to still resemble the original car. If u change the original look of the car that's when u start getting tickets for illegal modification. Actually California doesn't allow any modifications to the car besides rims but cops don't enforce them at all. It is illegal to drop ure suspension. Tinted windows. Sound system but we hardly get tickets for it. On a motorcycle u can change nothing. Any type of aftermarket exhaust on a motorcycle is illegal. Same with cars but cops don't enforce it.

So mainly it goes down to the cop who is out there. Sometimes u will get a cop that is completely an A hole and will give u a ticket for every single thing or u will just a cop that won't even car.

[76mx]

Bigpines,
   Here is another route you might consider. I can sell you a chassis with a international VIN number and a Certificate of Origin. Now you have a brand new vehicle to register and hopefully no kitcar hassle. But the car will be titled as what it most closely resembles, so 1975 and earlier no smog. Also, it is considered a new car by the bank.  Best of everything. 

[BigPines]

Good info guys. Maybe I will buy the code book (or maybe it is available online for free). Still, there are other reasons listed above why it seems advantageous to register the car as a pre-1976. So again, my question is what is the least I can use from the original car and be legal? Maybe nobody knows? Maybe it is a gray area?

[Schoony04]

Unless it's changed sence I lived there you were allowed to put any engine you wanted in your car as long as it was at least as new as the car that you are putting it into and has all the smog devices that come with it which might include the transmission that came with the donor engine.  And it has to pass smog.

Engine must be from same model year or newer as the body with all smog equipment from the newer engine. Engine also must be a matching body type engine (ex. you can't put a truck motor in a car).

I haven't heard anything regarding the type of engine has to be the same as original...i know when i was into honda's we used to swap 4 bangers for v6's....things may have changed since then though...

You may want to run down to the DMV and buy the "Vehicle code book" last time i bought one it was $16 (back in 2007/2008). Price may have changed....it has all the codes and regulations in it for california though...guaranteed to put you to sleep at night...

[dratts]

Unless it's changed sence I lived there you were allowed to put any engine you wanted in your car as long as it was at least as new as the car that you are putting it into and has all the smog devices that come with it which might include the transmission that came with the donor engine.  And it has to pass smog.

[BigPines]

It has been quiet on the forum today so I thought I'd throw something interesting out there...at least interesting to me.

I currently live in the People's Republic of California and we have a heck of a lot of laws here. There is pretty much a law for everything you can think of. The laws regarding automobile registration, insurance and emissions are some of the most complex and restrictive in the nation. With this in mind, I started thinking since I plan to build a car, maybe there is an opportunity to benefit if I plan things out correctly.

A little background on the "state" of affairs here. From what I understand there are heavy restrictions on engine swaps here. The engine type must match the one that was associated to the VIN or you won't pass smog. 1975 and older vehicles are smog exempt. SB100 (manufactured vehicles) are also smog exempt but require fees, inspections and general jumping through hoops I am not real excited about.

So here is what I was thinking, what if I purchased a running pre-1976 vehicle and build my car around it? The liability insurance would be cheap, cheap registration, no smog and no inspections or extra fees.

Now to the problem, I want as little of a pre-1976 vehicle in my car as possible. I don't want the weight or the antiquated engineering or the rust or...or...or...So how much of the car do I have to use for my built car to be considered the same car as the pre-1976 car? Obviously, the frame/chassis seems like the reasonable part I would have to use. Do I have to use the whole thing? Can I use only the center of the frame? Do I have to use a certain percentage of the frame? Can I use only the part of the frame that has the VIN on it?

To be clear, I want this to be legal...technically...so the department of motor vehicles has nothing to say about it. So what part (and how much of that part) would be considered the car?