Jump to content
SAU Community

How the hell do you mod a car and dodge the Filth and/or the EPA


Recommended Posts

There has to be plenty of ppl in the same boat as me, aftermarket air pod, BOV, boost controller or a front mount intercooler. According to Protech Developments Pty. Ltd. ALL these mods are illegal no matter what you do. Is this true and if so how the hell do pll get away with it? If it's not true where or who do i see to get it passed?

Engineers only works for non-emission affecting mods like:

brakes/suspension/gearbox/diff etc. etc. mods.

You can get and engineers when you upgrade Turbo/ECU/BOV,

But you also have to get the EPA to test it also... i heard EPA test's were about $1,000 and if you fail there is no re-test so you have to pay again and again till it passes.

But if you do get and Engineers, get them to write down all the mods.

If they don't and just give you a certificate.... the cop's will just say that the piece of paper means nothing if the mod's aren't listed.

They say that you could've changed parts... etc. etc.

And then give you a canary... and if they can't do that.

So if you wanna be 100% safe... you gotta do the EPA test thing and also get THEM to write down what mod's you have too.

Hope that helps.... i could be wrong with some stuff but it's open to debate

Another option is to avoid places that attracts idiots, which then attracts the cops' attention. Places such as Chapel Str., Elwood, illegal drags, etc., etc..

Sometimes you can be unlucky and just get done by a playa hater!

it's all good... but when ya have a nice car you wanna drive it (not that i'd go anywhere near chapel) but you know what i mean ?

Like a nice drivce down beach Rd on a Sat night cause it's HOT as... and all you do is get hassled

I agree with that.

All i'm sayin is that you know certain areas like; chappel, illegal drags (even if only spectating), Bell Str. Macca's, etc. will be swarmming will cops. So why risk it?, then cry on the forrum about cruising down chaps., and driving out with a big yellow sticker because of your BOV.

Guest INASNT

Y worry about the cops and the epa. Its your car do what u like with it.

I just got a canary and epa test done coz the pig that canaryed me reported me to the epa 2. U r allowed 1 intake mod, which mine was intercooler, i took off/hid the other mods and then after passing the test i put them all back on.

Its a game of cat and mouse, dont act like a tool on the road and u wont attract the wrong attention to your car.

And as for emission test costing $2500, the epa did mine for free. Its just a gas analysising machine and they stick a probe in the exhaust and rev it a bit. Takes about 5-10 and they print out the results. $2500?? i dont thin so.

Originally posted by INASNT

Y worry about the cops and the epa. Its your car do what u like with it.

I just got a canary and epa test done coz the pig that canaryed me reported me to the epa 2. U r allowed 1 intake mod, which mine was intercooler, i took off/hid the other mods and then after passing the test i put them all back on.

And as for emission test costing $2500, the epa did mine for free. Its just a gas analysising machine and they stick a probe in the exhaust and rev it a bit. Takes about 5-10 and they print out the results. $2500?? i dont thin so.

Inasnt.... in relation to a few bits...

It's your car and you can do what you want. As long as it's classed as 'legal'

Your mods might make it safer and better... but is it 'legal'

if you get EPA'd i think more than 3 times for the same offences the EPA can de-register your car/dish out a phat fine (or the cops can) i might not be 100% right there but it's something along those lines.

Also... An emission test being $2,500... yeah it's around that. That to get your car approved with ALL mods to your car on there. Rather than just the one intake mod rule.

Cause for others with different plenum's... cooler piping/extra injectors/bigger injectors/bigger turbo's and all that sort of crap. It's a great hassle taking it back to stock everytime ya get pulled over... so if you pass the test you never have to worry about it if the give you an EPA

Guest INASNT
Originally posted by R31Nismoid

Inasnt.... in relation to a few bits...

It's your car and you can do what you want. As long as it's classed as 'legal'

Your mods might make it safer and better... but is it 'legal'

if you get EPA'd i think more than 3 times for the same offences the EPA can de-register your car/dish out a phat fine (or the cops can) i might not be 100% right there but it's something along those lines.

Also... An emission test being $2,500... yeah it's around that. That to get your car approved with ALL mods to your car on there. Rather than just the one intake mod rule.

Cause for others with different plenum's... cooler piping/extra injectors/bigger injectors/bigger turbo's and all that sort of crap. It's a great hassle taking it back to stock everytime ya get pulled over... so if you pass the test you never have to worry about it if the give you an EPA

thats y with my turbo upgrade i am going for lowmount setup, then they wouldnt know the difference. As for bigger injectors epa wouldnt have a clue (they didnt know what my afm did when i went for the test)

When i passed my test the epa guy told me he would need photo evidence from the cops if i was reported again or else he would just ignore it!

The epa dont realise that alot of the mods make the car run better with less emissions.

put bigger injectors they'll notice.

Trust me.

if you get a guy that actually knows what he is on about (and some of them do) then i think you'll find you'll be in for a surprise.

They have a rough idea of what model cars should be running and if it's largely different, then you might find yourself in a spot oif bother... as would i and lots of others.

And he doesn't ned photo evidence. If he states you have a different mods or whatever you can still get reported i think

I'd like to know how epa testing, (and that's the term you're using) costs 2500 dollars??? What an absolute steaming helping!

That is as much as it costs to comply a whole car at a RETAIL LEVEL!! Jeez.

Guest INASNT
And he doesn't ned photo evidence. If he states you have a different mods or whatever you can still get reported i think

The chief epa inspector told me the cops need photo evidence cause i said what if i get reported again for nuttin. Remember i changed my exhaust and alot of stuff before the test and my car only read 83db.

A cop can see u drive by and report u, so how does he know what mods u got?

Originally posted by 2rismo

I'd like to know how epa testing, (and that's the term you're using) costs 2500 dollars???  What an absolute steaming helping!

That is as much as it costs to comply a whole car at a RETAIL LEVEL!!  Jeez.

I'll rephrase,

EPA Compliance then.....

And yeah that's what it cost a Retail Level... cause if you change the way your car came out from the factory (save for the 1 intake mod and those sort of things they let by) then it's no longer the same as what it was orginainally tested as.

And that's what requires that level of testing.

I know this as i know someone with a Supra with a non-standard engine and is going through this in detail with the EPA and stuff.

As a matter of fact $2500 is correct. This is an emissions test provided by the EPA on a dyno. It is a simulation of real road conditions and this IS required to LEGALLY drive a car with these types of intake modifications. As for the 1 intake mod rule, as soon as you modify any component of a car that may effect the emissions of the car it is no longer covered under the EPA’s initial report as it does not comply with is original specs.

Guest INASNT

y worry about the epa with your car.

there r plenty of other shit buckets out on the road blowing slow and crap out their exhausts.

In a few months the cops wont be picking on us imports that much once the new import laws come in

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Thanks for that, I'll check it all out. I can always do the brakes last anyway if its a problem.  The 16's are super cool, if they do fit I'll cruise around with them for a bit.  
    • Well, that's kinda the point. The calipers might interfere with the inside of the barrels 16" rims are only about 14" inside the barrels, which is ~350mm, and 334mm rotors only leave about 8mm outboard for the caliper before you get to 350, And.... that;s not gunna be enough. If the rims have a larger ID than that, you might sneak it in. I'd be putting a measuring stick inside the wheel and eyeballing the extra required for the caliper outboard of the rotor before committing to bolting it all on.
    • OK, so again it has been a bit of a break but it was around researching what had been done since I didn't have access to Neil's records and not everything is obvious without pulling stuff apart. Happily the guy who assembled the engine had kept reasonable records, so we now know the final spec is: Bottom end: Standard block and crank Ross 86.5mm forgies, 9:1 compression Spool forged rods Standard main bolts Oil pump Spool billet gears in standard housing Aeroflow extended and baffled sump Head Freshly rebuilt standard head with new 80lb valve springs Mild porting/port match Head oil feed restrictor VCT disabled Tighe 805C reground cams (255 duration, 8.93 lift)  Adjustable cam gears on inlet/exhaust Standard head bolts, gasket not confirmed but assumed MLS External 555cc Nismo injectors Z32 AFM Bosch 023 Intank fuel pump Garret 2871 (factory housings and manifold) Hypertune FFP plenum with standard throttle   Time to book in a trip to Unigroup
    • I forgot about my shiny new plates!
    • Well, apparently they do fit, however this wont be a problem if not because the car will be stationary while i do the suspension work. I was just going to use the 16's to roll the old girl around if I needed to. I just need to get the E90 back on the road first. Yes! I'm a believer! 🙌 So, I contacted them because the site kinda sucks and I was really confused about what I'd need. They put together a package for me and because I was spraying all the seat surfaces and not doing spot fixes I decided not to send them a headrest to colour match, I just used their colour on file (and it was spot on).  I got some heavy duty cleaner, 1L of colour, a small bottle of dye hardener and a small bottle of the dye top coat. I also got a spray gun as I needed a larger nozzle than the gun I had and it was only $40 extra. From memory the total was ~$450 ish. Its not cheap but the result is awesome. They did add repair bits and pieces to the quote originally and the cost came down significantly when I said I didn't need any repair products. I did it over a weekend. The only issues I had were my own; I forgot to mix the hardener into the dye two coats but I had enough dye for 2 more coats with the hardener. I also just used up all the dye because why not and i rushed the last coat which gave me some runs. Thankfully the runs are under the headrests. The gun pattern wasn't great, very round and would have been better if it was a line. It made it a little tricky to get consistent coverage and I think having done the extra coats probably helped conceal any coverage issues. I contacted them again a few months later so I could get our X5 done (who the f**k thought white leather was a good idea for a family car?!) and they said they had some training to do in Sydney and I could get a reduced rate on the leather fix in the X5 if I let them demo their product on our car. So I agreed. When I took Bec in the E39 to pick it up, I showed them the job I'd done in my car and they were all (students included) really impressed. Note that they said the runs I created could be fixed easily at the time with a brush or an air compressor gun. So, now with the two cars done I can absolutely recommend Colourlock.  I'll take pics of both interiors and create a new thread.
×
×
  • Create New...