Is it? I probably should have done more research into this before I bought the damn thing. Will I have trouble passing smog? Do tranny swaps work the same way as engine swaps -as long as the engine was an option on the car you can do it- in that case weren't the firehawks offered with T56s so it would be smog compliant?

 

I live in Iowa, and don't have to deal with any of that emissions crap, but I am going to assume that they could care less what transmission you have, as long as it meets the emissions requirements...and anyway, if they ask, are they REALLY gonna know its a t56 and not a T5?

 

Well its going from a 700r4 to a t56.

 

Fortunately, the BAR says that you can swap motors as long as they were an option, or if it belongs to the same family, (small block Chevy), and so on....but unfortunately, you need to keep the same transmission as what came in your car no matter what motor you put in. I met a guy that had to fabricate a bellhousing adapter to keep his Ford tranny when he installed a Chevy motor into his truck. He took it to the referee, and he wouldn't sign off on it. So if you want to do the swap, you could either have a smog guy that you know just not mention it when he tests it, or you need to go to the state referee and have him sign off on it. Good luck getting that to happen!! They are really strict on manual swaps, that's why in '93 it was almost impossible to get a California emissions legal 6 speed Camaro. The only way that you could get one was to go to Arizona, and pay the out of state fee. Currently, they are really comming down on diesels.

I plan on doing the same swap, but before I buy the tranny, I'm gonna make sure that all of my bases are covered!!

 

I wonder then if I should just turn around and sell the T56 I bought with everything needed for a conversion for $1000 being I bought it all for $650. If i'm going on the whim that the smog guy won't mention it I think i'm going to have to reconsider doing this swap. What happens then if they do mention it? Also this is a bit off topic but does the L98 have a one piece rear main seal so I can use the LT1 flywheel?

 

Kevin91Z, who moderates this forum, lives in OC and has done that swap, and can maybe shed some light on it for you.

Swapping a trans is a whole different beast than swapping a transplant motor from a different brand into a vehicle. AFAIK from when I lived out there, as long as the original motor is in the car, the referee doesn't get involved, regardless. So the Frod truck example doesn't exactly apply.

I knew somebody in Temecula who swapped LT1/T-56 and LT1/4L60E combos into Jaguars, and those got past the referee. So it's definitely possible, and legal.

No the Firehawks did not have T-56s; they had the ZF 6-speed.

 

Shed me some light Kevin91Z. Or maybe i'll just pm you.

 

i lived out in SAN for a bit, just do the swap don't say anything

 

you're ok if you swap it, AND you change the badge so that the correct shift pattern is displayed.

as long as you have the neutral/clutch safety wired up, and you have it labeled with the proper shift pattern, and you dont modify the exhaust or engine to do it (you wont have to) then you're ok.


i still would not mention it though.. sometimes the people incharge arnt the brightest, and it could make a hassle for you.

 

Smog checks are only for the engine. They do not care what tranny you have in the car. If a smog tech gives you a hassle, then find another one.

 

Don't believe me? Ask a smog tech, or better yet, contact the BAR.


Like I said, if you know someone that is willing to overlook the fact that the car came as an automatic, then all the better. And true, there are some smog techs that couldn't tell you what an EGR does, or what causes NOx to be high, but you'll see what I'm talking about. I had a tech look at my headers and tell me that my car won't pass, I told him to look at the tag with the EO#, and he didn't even know what that was. I went to another shop after that. I also know of a tech that will pull a vaccum line, or take out some timing, or run a hose over the radiator just to make the car pass. And of course, there are those who if you give them an extra "C" note, you won't even have to worry.

 

Considering that there is something like a $10,000 penalty for that, plust the shop may have its license to do smog checks revoked, I wouldn't even ASK somebody to do that. The consequences aren't worth $100.

Yes when I lived out there I went through the same thing about the EO # for headers, on which it was no longer visible; ended up printing it out off of the mfr's web site. Doesn't have much to do with the issue at hand.

 

If you want to get technical...the state bar guy will go all the way with you.

The referee dosesn't care what trans you have.

I called the bar before doing mine and was told the same thing " you must keep the same trans" but the ref didn't care and certified it.

 

might be a stupid question but...

why the hell would it matter if you swapped transmissions for emissions testing?

I just did the swap and did not even hear about this or consider it until now. I have no doubt I'll pass, so I'm not worried, but I'm just curious to the reasoning behind that?

 

Because California is **** about almost anything you do to modify your car even if it doesn't have to do with what's coming out of its ***.

 

Just to show how **** CA is, MSD currently doesn't have an EO# for the Ford "coil on plug" coils. Wouldn't you think that your car would run cleaner with a better performing coil? A more efficient combustion? I know when I added the 6A and Blaster coil, and 8.5mm wires I'm running cleaner. But the problem that they (ARB) have is when you are "aggresively driving", or "spiritedly driving" you are emmiting more emissions then when you are "crusing" or "normal driving". And changing shift points will alow you to emmit more emisions. Now, yes, you can hold a gear in an auto, and some newer cars have a "towing" or "sport" button that allows later shift points, but most of the time the auto shifts at the same point. It has been proven, with a stick or manual trans, the same vehicle will produce more emissions.