Headers - Smog Legal

To: barney@flowpoint.com
Subject: Re: Smog Legal Headers?
References: <9701151644.AA10146@zeus.flowpoint.com>
From: sting42@juno.com (Toddster J Aubin)
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 19:36:32 EST

hey barney,

i am planning on looking into finding out more on those smog headers i
mentioned before.  a richard yabuki responded to my question by saying
that:

"Headers are legal in Calif. if they have a California Air Resources
Board ( CARB ) exemption sticker on them. What that basically is, is 
the Co. goes down to the State and proves that their header doesn't 
put out anymore smog than the stock system or decreases emissions 
(don't know if that's possible) and yes it is an very high price, 
that's why a lot of Co.'s don't do it because they might not make 
the $ back in sales."

I will find out if this company did do this to make it smog legal. 
richard yabuki then mentioned that downey off road makes smog legal
headers.  after looking in to this the only smog legal headers that
downey makes for sure is for the 20r.  downey makes headers for the 22r
but their legality in california is questionable at best.

as for your question about the weber carb, DO NOT DO IT!  i purchased a
"50 state smog legal" weber from performance products.  after taking my
truck to a respectable mechanic shop and two hours of them tinkering
around with the idle mixture screw they gave up.  the problem was that
the weber carb runs too rich even at its lowest setting.  also, i am not
sure that the weber carb really made that much of an increase in
performance.  i now need to put back in my old stock carb and get it to
pass smog. yes it is a headache with all the vacuum lines that i have to
deal with (i don't think your truck is as bad as mine).  i think that i
can fix the problem with the webber carb, and make it run leaner, it is
just going to take some time and i'll have to get to it later (with
school starting next week).  but i am thinking of just selling it
outright ( are you interested? ).

when i got the carburetor, it didn't come with some sticker saying that
it was smog legal, but it did come with a piece of paper that said:
"this performance carburetor has been granted a california air resources
board executive order number and is legal for sale and use when properly
installed on vehicles used on public highways in california.  please
refer to section 1.11 of the california bureau of automotive repair smog
check program inspection and repair manual, october 1984."  the sheet
also says to keep this information with my vehicle registration.

i also want to point out that with the webber carb i have been getting
horrible gas milage (that would make sense since it is running real
rich).  richard yabuki told me in his e-mail to me that after replacing
his exhaust system from the catalytic converter back he has noticed
significant improvement in power.

i hope that i was able to answer you question.  thank you for responding
to my question.  if you want i will keep you informed on my progress let
me know (especially about the headers).

take care,

todd aubin

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Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 09:31:04 -0800
From: "CONRAD" 
Subject: Toy4x4 Digest V1 #149
To: 

> Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 16:18:24 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Jonathan Albrecht 
> Subject: questions--already
>  I would like to put a header on pretty soon.  I'm
> thinking about that LC engineering one. (comments?)  
> Later,
> Jonathan Albrecht

The LC ceramic coated is the way to go.  Better heat transfer and no rust. 
They should have them smog legal sometime this summer.   They are waiting
on the certification to come through.  They cost a bit more, but are well
worth it!!
jc

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Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 11:01:39 -0800
From: "CONRAD" 
Subject: Toy4x4 Digest V1 #151
To: 

> Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 17:12:26 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Jonathan Albrecht 
> Subject: LC Engineering header
> Oh, and about the smog legal stuff, do they just need to certify the
> current design, or are they making a new (different) smog legal header?
> Jonathan Albrecht

I think they are just certifying the current design, not positive.  If you
call them they will put you on a list, and let you know as soon as they get
the certification.  I am waiting for that call so I can buy one.
Now then, what part of Alaska are you heading to?  For some reason it seems
to me you're headed to Juneau.  Is that correct?  You know the weather and
4-wheeling are much better up here near Fairbanks!!
jc

Jack Conrad,  BIG TOY, TLCA # 3851
conrad@mosquitonet.com, North Pole, AK
84 FJ-60, coils over  leaf-over, 350,38s, ARB
92 Extra-Cab, coils over leafs, 5.29s, ARB, 35s
Land Cruiser, don't leave the pavement without one!!  

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Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 09:47:15 -0400
From: Ed.Wong@astramerck.com
Subject: LC Engineering header
To: "        -         (052)Toy4x4 (a) tlca.org" ,

Jonathan:

Ive got a Bolra and an "older" LC header.

Its pretty loud now - bue less noisy than the blown pinion bearing ;)

As said before - the Borla tends to "burn out" pretty quick.

I did header FIRST and then Borla - its pretty throaty,
relatively quiet at idle, but buzzy at 5500RPM.

Im considering welding a Supertrapp disk muffler on the
end of the pipe to quiet it down a tad - (stainless
steel and you can add/sub disks as necessary)

As far a certif - I think the just get the existing design
approved via *paperwork*. I believe it only applies to the
Kalifornia trucks - AFAIK - the headers are 49 state legal.

EWong

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Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 18:28:52 -0700
From: James Brink 
Subject: LC Engineering header/CARB certification
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

As far a certif - I think the just get the existing design
 approved via *paperwork*. I believe it only applies to the
 Kalifornia trucks - AFAIK - the headers are 49 state legal.
 
 EWong

My .02 on the cert. issue:

The manufacturer has to petition (ask) the CARB (California Air
Resources Board) to begin the process to obtain an E.O. (exemption
order). The CARB certification engineer will review the specifications
fo the product and determine if the device needs to tested in accordance
with EPA requirements for an FTP (Federal Test Procedure) CVS-75 test.
If so, the engineer will select a "worst-case" vehicle, one that may be
harder to certify (specific engine family, manual transmission, certian
emissions equipment, etc.) that the product fits. At this point, the
company selects an emissions test lab recognized by the EPA/CARB to
perform a loaded dynamometer test. This test places an approximate
road-load on the vehicle to simulate driving on the road while in a
controlled environment and is completely different from a typical smog
check. This is the same test the EPA uses for fuel economy. The
manufacturer can select from two types of tests: Try to beat the
standard the vehicle was originally certifired as, or back to back,
looking for a small change in emissions. If the product passes, the
state reviews the test results and may issue an E.O. Sometimes the state
wants to test the vehicle in their own lab to confirm the independent
lab's tests. Sounds simple, huh?

Sorry about the length but I thought some of 'ya wanted to know how
these things happen, leaving out a lot of detail, of course.

- -- 
Jim Brink				1986 Standard Bed 4X4/22R
Toyota/ASE Certified Technician		135,000 Miles
brinkjm@earthlink.net			32" BFG All-Terrain T/As
					Stock 4.10 gears
					Rear Lock-Right (TRD)

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Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 18:21:14 -0400
From: Ed.Wong@astramerck.com
Subject: K&N Filtercharger oddities
To: "        -         (052)Duckguy (a) aol.com" 

In a message dated 97-05-28 15:13:19 EDT, you write:

<< LC headers by themselves are not "illegal" in the sense that they do
 no disable any smog fittings etc. However, they WILL fail the so called
 visual inspection. Of course, you could simply swap em back every
 year at inspection time - not to hard to do if ya keep all the parts around.
>>


Ed, thanks once again for your opinion and experience.  One question, though,
with the headers, are they  THAT noticeable? say if a fellow figured out a
way to mount the heat reflectors from the stock manifolds to the LCs, would
they still be really obvious to the standard "wrench jockey" that runs the
smog inspect??

>>>>>>>>>>

Yeah, they are THAT noticable.
In theory one could do that - make the header fit under the stock heat 
shield, but that would imply the following
  1) the header would have to be more "compact"
  2) the bends would have to be "tight"
  3) primary tube length would be limited.

Some general reasons why headers blow the doors off the stock manifold:
~ larger primary tube diameter (the tube matches the exhaust port size
   rather than being smaller).
~ longer primary tube lenght - in general, the longer the primary, the 
   better the torque (at the expense of top end horsepower). The LC 
   primaries extend all the way under the truck almost to the cat!
~ Reduced need for sound reduction. Cast manifolds "quiet" the exhaust
   pulse noise.
~ Reduced need for under hood/floor temperatures.  Even with ceramic
   coated headers, the floor under the drivers seat (22RE) means that 
   even in the winter I dont really need much heat.

If one were to make a header that would "pass" a visual, it would 
probably have minimal gains over the stock manifold, cost more and 
probably raise the ire of the CARB because it would be obvious that 
this item was intended to circumvent the CARB review processes. It 
would be far simpler and BETTER all around to send the header through 
the CARB process - as LC is doing (As far as I know). Its not that 
headers are inherent polltion devices, its that very few companies 
feel that the COST of certification is worth it.

I had gotten in trouble for this statement before, but I'll repeat it 
- IMHO, the CARB process is mainly paperwork. By that I mean that from 
and engineering standpoint, the header *should* not increase emissions, 
and will probably reduce emissions. At issue is PROVING that belief. 
This cost $$ as test has to be setup at an "approved" lab etc. Any 
header designer worth their salt would have already proven such anyway 
as part of the test of their designs.

Interestingly enuff, all this smog stuff has in many ways IMPROVED power.
Several small run cars have higher HP/Torque in US models because the
emissions calibration on the fuel injection *found* additional horsepower.

Remeber - HC emissions implies that you are *wasting* gass out the tail 
pipe, gas that is NOT helping you go faster/harder.

BTW - the *STOCK* 22RE header is a tri Y design. The cast part has the 
4 into 2 part and the stock down pipe has a very small 2 into 1 portion. 
So really, its about as efficinet as it can get within the packaging 
constraints anyway.

EWong

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Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 00:05:20 -0700
From: James Brink 
Subject: opinions
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

Ed Ruf wrote:
 
> Jim,
> 
> I agree the price is astronomical. But, won't this work on only '85 and
> earlier 22R-E blocks. The newer ones require the shorter chain that's
> part of the LC kit, don't they? One can still get the all the rest as
> you suggest.
> 
I told the tech. at L.C. which year motor I was working on and he
expressed no concern about the chain length. Maybe they carry a longer
chain for the later (8/85) blocks? I dunno. I do know L.C. is owned by a
different company now than when they were in La Verne, CA.

On a different note for the California folks out there, Downey's headers
are now CA legal. Per CARB's (California Air Resources Board) request,
the headers are made from 14ga. steel as opposed to the previous 16ga.
The exemption (approval) covers all of Downey's headers, 4 cylinder and
V6. 

- -- 
Jim Brink				1986 Standard Bed 4X4/22R
Toyota/ASE Certified Technician		135,000 Miles
brinkjm@earthlink.net			32" BFG All-Terrain T/As
					Stock 4.10 gears
					Rear Lock-Right (TRD)

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