[DeTomaso] DMV registration question for fellow Kalifornians.

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/28/11 11 26 46, MACHWIL at aol.com writes:


> 
> I think you are in California. If that is correct your Vega was smog 
> exempt
> at the time the ticket was issued. That smog law changed years ago and I
> believe  it extends down to cars built before Dec. 31, 1975. I know my '73
> Pantera is  exempt.
> 

Wrongo, Bud!

Your Pantera is exempt from periodic inspection.   That is not the same as 
being exempt from meeting the requirements that were in place on the day it 
was sold.   At any time, a cop with an attitude can write you a ticket for 
failing to pass his arbitrary visual inspection, and then you are forced into 
Referee Hell where you have to demonstrate to a bureaucrat that your car 
does, in fact, possess all the required pollution control equipment that was 
installed on the day it was first sold.

That's the situation Peter is in now.

The Pantera's smog requirements were fairly basic; a functioning PCV system 
is pretty much all that was there (i.e. no smog pumps, air injection 
systems etc.).   But if you are running open breathers on your valve covers, you 
are failing, and a cop can legitimately write you a ticket.

Just another good reason to keep a functional PCV system in place....

Mike