Why not make your street rod meet the 1980 emissions standards so you don't have to worry about getting pulled over,a ticket and having to go to court? Makes good sense to me to do it and be a step ahead of them and save yourself a lot of inconvienience,hassle and money in the long run. Anybody know of someone or a shop that does this kind of work?
I don't quite understand. The standards apply to the year of the engine, so install a pre 1980 and tune it up to meet the 1980 standards or install a post 1980 engine and it must have all the emission gear on it that came from the factory and meet the standards of that year. After your tune-up, go get it sniffed if you are not confident.
We recently detuned by down jetting a 440 six pac set up in a big c body. The car still goes like hell doesnt spew raw fuel out the pipes does not stink or burn your eyes. So as stated above bigger is not always better,plus attaining a proper tune is not that hard.
Hard to believe this a hot rod site anymore. 'Running racing equipment [oversize carbs and cams ]makes a car run slower as a general statement isn't true. In some cases the economy and emmisions can actually improve.. especially with additional 'racing equipment' such as headers ; gear ratio changes; etc. As a Hot Rodder my goals are to improve performance and 'try' to comply with existing laws.
I think you need to reread my statement and view the video I attached. The OP's original question was about meeting 1980 emissions standards and not attempting to meet them.
If you want a faster street car (crisp low RPM throttle response), you need to focus on bottom-end torque and setting up the car for this purpose generally makes it easier to meet emission regulations.
I was talking about MY goals of trying to comply with existing laws not what the OP's goals or question was but most importantly challenging your statement that 'racing equipment on a street car makes it slower and causes poor emissions and poor fuel economy. Again as a general statement that is not necessarily true and I would hope that the Hot Rodders on this site would understand that. If you 'over carb' or 'over cam' a motor whether street or strip the car will usually run slower. If however you increase the size of the carb or camshaft to what the motor needs to run at maximum performance the reverse occurs .. you go quicker and faster. True I have simplified my point, there are other variables, but what I have stated is true When I built the Hemi in my 32 my No. 1 goal was more performance and I achieved that. The motor had a pcv valve added and the old 'draft tube' was removed and the hole sealed. That plus a proper tune up I 'Try' to meet the 1980 standard [and I'm pretty sure I do] but whether I do or not, plus whatever the gas mileage is or isn't is not a major concern .Improved performance is the goal and I thought that was what this site was about.
