Ok, so this needs to be stickied because some people might want to read this before they consider any of these ideas. I have spent a lot of time lately on the phone with the CARB, Bureu of Automotive Repair, and the DMV Referees which determine if engine swaps are legal or not.

Be aware that federal law always trumps state and local laws, with one exeption. States/counties/cities are allowed to pass stricter laws, they are not allowed to pass looser laws, even tho some do. What this means is if you live in a state with stricter laws then the federal laws, your out of luck. If you live in a state with looser laws than federal laws, just be warned that the federal government could at any time declare your states looser laws illegal and therefore the mods on your car illegal.

This is all really stupid, it started with me doing a 5 speed swap in my TLEV SOHC ATX. Turns out, the same law that trys to limit pollution, fails to realize that even with the non TLEV computer, the new tranny makes my car pollute less then it ever could with the TLEV computer. However, it is the law, and in California, they could impound your car and arrest you if you show up to a smog station with some of these modifications.

1 - Cat removal/relocation - This is illegal in all 50 states as per federal law. Some states have looser smog laws then the federal law, some stricter. Just beware, federal law ALWAYS trumps state and local laws, meaning that even if you pass your local smog check, the federal government could fine you and jail you if they ever found out you have removed/relocated your cat. This is similar to the legal pot laws, states may let you grow/sell it with a license, but at any time the federal government could come in and arrest you because federal law always trumps state and local laws.

2 - Tranny swaps and TLEV vehicals. All SOHC ATX neons that were originally sold in California are TLEV vehicles with exeption of I believe the 95. If you dont know if you have a TLEV vehical, check your throttle body, all TLEV vehicals recieved the smaller 49mm throttle body, even tho they are automatics. California law states that TLEV vehicles (or any other california only vehicle) must retain all stock emissions related devices. This means, EGR's, cat, computer, and such. THAT MEANS TLEV VEHICLES CAN NOT USE ANY AFTERMARKET CAT.

This also means that the atx to mtx tranny swap is illegal. If you swap trannys, and leave the stock computer, as some due, you'll fail emissions. If you use the stock mtx computer for your year, you'll fail because you dont have the TLEV computer in there. And same goes for the Mopar computer.

3 - Engine swaps and TLEV vehicles - Engine swaps are a no-no in TLEV vehicles as well. Period, no exeptions. Only the same year or newer TLEV engine designed for the same vehicle may be used to replace a failed TLEV engine.

4 - Engine swaps in non TLEV vehicles in california - To do an engine swap in any vehicle in california, you must use a newer engine designed for the same platform. Meaning if you have a 99 dodge neon, you can not swap in any older of an engine then a 99 or newer engine from a dodge neon. 2000+ year neons can not use a DOHC neon engine unless it is the SRT-4 engine. Yes california considers the SRT-4 a neon platform. So, engines that can be swapped into a 95-99 neon are limitless, provided it is a non TLEV vehical, and the engine is a 99 or newer. For neons 2000 and up, the 2.0L DOHC is off limits.

5 - If you live in california, and do either an engine swap, or tranny swap, you must take it to a DMV Referee to have it verified that you did not use parts that were not intended for a car of the same platform. If you do not do this you will not pass smog.

 

this is another reason i say **** California

 

True, but as posted, removing any factory installed smog equipment on any car is illegal by federal law. Some places are lucky, and get can get away with it. For now at least.

I would still rather deal with california's smog laws, then deal with not driving my car due to snow, hurricanes, tornados, and all those problems. Every place has its probs, but I can drive my car and ride my dirt bike year round.

And my race car is a trailer toy anyways.

Sorry, im about to vent here (neon was broken into this morning in a "gated" community) but;

I'm pretty disheartend with the whole government right now anyways. Were in a huge deficit, that has to due with more then just whos in office right now.

Ask yourself this. How much do you pay for gym membership, cable tv, electricity, rent/house, food, medical? Inmates convicted of anything from petty theft to murder and rape get all of that free. The womens prison my gf works at has several tvs per room and all have cable. Free medical, free food, housing etc. The prisoners get CO's fired all the time even when there lying. You wonder why people go in and out of jail there whole life, its because jail isnt punishing anyone, its a way to live for free. And it will never change because we as a country believe that for them not to have tv/cable, gym rights, better food then the CO's are offered would be cruel and unusual punishment. I'm sorry but the dude who just shot someone for a tv, doesnt deserve free tv and cable. That would free up so much money just by cutting cable, tv, and reducing the priveledges that these undeserving people get, at all 97 california prisons. And thats just in california, its the same in all the other states as well.

 

Couldnt figure out how to edit my first post so.........

I just wanted everyone to know the reason behind this post.

I talked to several people at the CARB board and they all told me that a tranny swap was legal on my TLEV car. This led me to spend $3000+ on my swap, as I wanted to do everything right the first time, with as many new parts as possible to keep it reliable, and fix some of the neons inherent flaws such as the diff.

I used; a used tranny, that was rebuilt with new synchros, bearings, seals, and a quaife lsd, new driveshafts, new clutch and shifter cables with spherical rod ends replacing the plastic ends of the shift cables, mopar performance computer, used pedals, maddog sts, and the mopar fluid.

I come to find out now, the people i talked to before didnt do there homework, or were just idiots that didnt care, and now i have a $3000 tranny in a car that will never again pass smog without being converted back to an auto with a tlev computer. This is going to lead me to purchase a 5 speed sohc 2 door, strip it down, rebuild it from the ground up, switch in my good parts from the tlev (tranny/shifter, computer, header, udp and such) and part out everything else.

I'm just trying to save people from going through the same hassle i did, as sometimes the info that is out there might not be complete, as the info i recieved was not

Hate cali or not, this info needs to be available to all to see, because ive already been asked by 2 people in cali to help swap trannys for them, and i would have done it and then had them come back pissed at me later because of it not being legal.

 

maybe someone should explain what TLEV stands for

 

the legal pot laws Can someone explain this also. I can get a license to smoke pot? Where do I get this at? Do I take a smoking test to make sure I can toke up? :-P

 

TLEV stands for Transitional Low Emissions Vehicle

All automatic tranny single overhead cam neons sold in california were TLEV vehicles, and I believe the ones in some parts of massachusetts were too. The computer will have a different part number then the regular computer, you can also call a dealer and ask using the vin number. Ive also noticed that all of the TLEV neons that ive seen in person (about 15) had the small 49mm throttle body, even tho there automatics. The compression is 9.3:1, instead of the standard sohc's 9.8:1. This is achieved by modifying the pistons. The hp rating is supposed to be down 3 hp from the regular 96-99 sohc neons, at 129 hp and 127 ft.-lbs of torque.

lol, as far as the pot laws, some states allow use of medical pot for people with perscriptions, but if the feds show up, your still screwed.

If wanted i could clean this up into one post with all the info, but it needs to be stickied, because the smog people dont always know what there talking about, and it would suck for other people to go through the same crap i did because the info wasnt available