Question, maybe yall can help :D

[Tempnix]

Moved here from Japan, where i was drifting and all that and wanted to get back into it, well my buddy picked up a redtop s13 thats unregistered and was told that he cannot register it in cali due to it has an SR20DET in it.

he is now in Afghan and is giving me a POA to deal with his car to get it up and running and able to slide. So help if you can guys if not, thanks in advance

Is this a myth? or true?

if its not true will any please let me know the proper channels i need to goto to get this thing registered, is it just like the normal process?

[FRpilot]

it's really easy to get this registered. actually, way easier than you think. you just have to swap a stock ka with all the emissions equipment back on and you should be good to go.

bring all your paperwork to dmv with car. they will inspect it, you pay some fees and get a smog check and you are done.

[Tempnix]

So is there any way to do this with the SR in it? If it were my car i wouldnt mind finding a KA to put in it, but since its friends car, im not spending a dime unless i absolutely have too lol.

But i will keep the KA idea in mind incase nobody else knows about the SR thing.

[DenkiMan!]

im not too sure about cali law, but in md you can register it as historic and it doesnt even go through emissions, just has to be registered so it can drive the streets legally. so you could put what ever motor you want. but the car has to be 20 years older....so the 89's and 90's s13s can do this.

like i said idk about cali law and how old the car has to be, but you could look into that. otherwise, i do know cali is really strict about emissions stuff and since SR's arent technically legal (because they arent USDM motors) i doubt you could register it with the SR in it...someone correct me if im wrong

[Tempnix]

Originally Posted by DenkiMan!

im not too sure about cali law, but in md you can register it as historic and it doesnt even go through emissions, just has to be registered so it can drive the streets legally. so you could put what ever motor you want. but the car has to be 20 years older....so the 89's and 90's s13s can do this.

like i said idk about cali law and how old the car has to be, but you could look into that. otherwise, i do know cali is really strict about emissions stuff and since SR's arent technically legal (because they arent USDM motors) i doubt you could register it with the SR in it...someone correct me if im wrong

ya, thats exactly what im asking, and if hes wrong someone let me know haha.. otherwise its to the batcave to find a KA :P

[DenkiMan!]

i did some researching and i found something on the cali dmv site. it says the car has to be at least 25 years old for historic plates, so that wont work for your s13. the ka route is probably your best choice if you want to pass smog.

here is the link to the site: California License Plates & Placards Information - DMV Guide
(go to the antique vehicle plates section)
maybe you can find another option somewhere on that site

[Tempnix]

Thanks much

[Rabboni]

There is technically no legal way to register an sr powered 240sx in california. This was copied directly off the ca dmv website concerning historic plates : "These special plates are issued, upon request, for motor vehicles manufactured after 1922 which are at least 25 years old and of historic interest." Upon further investigation, i discovered that ca historic vehicles can only be driven in historical exhibitions, parades, or historic club activities. So if you got historic plates you would be worse of then driving out of state plates. The only way to get this car registered legally is to swap back to a stock ka... but that only has to be temporary.

[Tempnix]

Ok, thanks for the info guys, was a GREAT help

[DenkiMan!]

Originally Posted by Rabboni

There is technically no legal way to register an sr powered 240sx in california. This was copied directly off the ca dmv website concerning historic plates : "These special plates are issued, upon request, for motor vehicles manufactured after 1922 which are at least 25 years old and of historic interest." Upon further investigation, i discovered that ca historic vehicles can only be driven in historical exhibitions, parades, or historic club activities. So if you got historic plates you would be worse of then driving out of state plates. The only way to get this car registered legally is to swap back to a stock ka... but that only has to be temporary.

yea i did see that. here in md they technically say sort of the same thing and say that you cant drive the car more than a certain number of times per week. but police dont often stake ppl out and check they are respecting the number of times the car is allowed out on the road lol. but hey in california they just might do that knowing how strict they are haha. i thought that could be somewhat of a legal way around it...i tried lol

thats actually really similar to what they say in va, they have to be of "historic interest", but the dmv doesnt care usually...there are a couple s12's driving on va antique plates haha

i had my 86 bmw 5 series historic plated and drove it around for a good 3 months before it got all bmw on me and stopped working

[fliprayzin240sx]

It has an illegal engine in it...what makes you think you can pass inspection with it?!?!

Since your still in the military, register it to another state other than CA. Your best bet...change the state you're claiming in your LES to TN. Contact TN DMV about registering it, you should need a copy of your LES showing TN, copy of your military orders to CA, whatever state drivers license you have (doesnt have to be TN license) and your mailing address in CA. Pay your $30 in registration fee and DUN DUN DUN!!!

[ziptiedae86]

Wait so you want to drift your friend's new car while he's in Afghanistan? Your friend must really trust you.

+1 on swapping the KA and getting it past inspection and the sniffer. It's just like getting JCI on The Rock, you need a stock setup.

[Drift_This]

Coming for someone who worked for a registered importer there is no legal way to register a sr powered 240 in Cali unless you have boatloads of cash to through away on testing and developing an emissions system for the vehicle. Your best bet is to register it no-op and tow it to events

[akina_speedstar]

If the motor came from a vehicle that was of the same year or newer then the vehicle it went into and has the proper smog equipment turbo or not as long as it passes smog you should be able to go to the cali referee and have it registered as a CA vehicle. The smog guy I worked for pointed people in this direction all the time for Ka swamped civics and v6 to V8 camaros and such. I will admit I dont know alot about the Sr motor so it might have horrible Smog numbers and be unable to register.

[Mishkin_707]

Originally Posted by akina_speedstar

If the motor came from a vehicle that was of the same year or newer then the vehicle it went into and has the proper smog equipment turbo or not as long as it passes smog you should be able to go to the cali referee and have it registered as a CA vehicle. The smog guy I worked for pointed people in this direction all the time for Ka swamped civics and v6 to V8 camaros and such. I will admit I dont know alot about the Sr motor so it might have horrible Smog numbers and be unable to register.

to dumb this down, "K" series motors can be swapped into old civics because the motor came from a civic even a JDM civic type R (not available in the us) motor can be swapped because the cars name in japan was also named "civic"

that's why honda/acura owners can do JDM swaps and have them "BAR'D" in california.

as for us our cars are the "240sx" and in japan it was called the "silvia" and totally different motors all together, only motor we can swap in are newer 240sx motors.

damn cali and their smog laws, yet 1978 and older vehicles are smog exempt which put out so much more pollution than our 4 cylinders.

i moved to chicago so here in illinois 95 and older cars have no smog tests! although i never had to worry about rust.

[akina_speedstar]

thanks for dumbing that down for me and its still 75 it hasnt been changed to 78 like most people are hoping.

[Mishkin_707]

ah, thanks, i dunno why i thought 78

[Drift_This]

Originally Posted by Mishkin_707

to dumb this down, "K" series motors can be swapped into old civics because the motor came from a civic even a JDM civic type R (not available in the us) motor can be swapped because the cars name in japan was also named "civic"

that's why honda/acura owners can do JDM swaps and have them "BAR'D" in california.

as for us our cars are the "240sx" and in japan it was called the "silvia" and totally different motors all together, only motor we can swap in are newer 240sx motors.

damn cali and their smog laws, yet 1978 and older vehicles are smog exempt which put out so much more pollution than our 4 cylinders.

i moved to chicago so here in illinois 95 and older cars have no smog tests! although i never had to worry about rust.

the name of the vehicle has nothing to do with being able to swap a motor into another vehicle. if that was the case how would you get a b18 from an integra into the civic or accord platform? both never came with a b18 even in japan. it does have to with whether the motor was offered turbo or n/a.

take the the jdm b16a from the civic type r. only reason the jdm motor can be carb'd is because the b16a was offered in the civic del sol si. so all you need to do is use the del sol's emmisions, harness, and computer and get it BAR'd and carb'd and your good to go.

the sr20deT was never offered in the U.S.A. in any vehicle what so ever. so there is really no emissions system to base the carb legal swap on. you could techinally do a sr20DE swap since it was offered in the infiniti g20, nissan sentra, and nissan 200sx. adapting the emisions system, harness, and the ecu to work to get it carb'd and BAR'd is going to be the tricky part.

also the drivetrain layout does not matter on swap legality. thats why a 3sgte can be leagally swapped into a corolla or any other fr vehicle

[akina_speedstar]

If he can get the smog equipment like your talking bout and it passes a manual inspection by a CA ref. along with actual smog check Hes good to go but a easier thing to do first is to go to the CA DMV web site and make sure his county is one that requires smog because not all CA county require a smog check.

P.s. I was kidding bout the dumbing it down thing.

[Rabboni]

Originally Posted by akina_speedstar

If he can get the smog equipment like your talking bout and it passes a manual inspection by a CA ref. along with actual smog check Hes good to go but a easier thing to do first is to go to the CA DMV web site and make sure his county is one that requires smog because not all CA county require a smog check.

P.s. I was kidding bout the dumbing it down thing.

it doesnt matter if he gets all the smog equiptment, and makes fewer pollutants than a stock ka; since the motor was never offered in the states it cant be legal... that is unless you have alot of money to dump into developing a whole new emissions system and getting that independently tested and reffed.

[akina_speedstar]

If the motor like he said was offered he can pull the turbo hook up the smog equipment and be good to go. That all I said