roadside smog test?

[ta240]

at lunch today I drove by an area where they were blocking off the right hand lane of a 4 lane road and had 2 cars pulled over. In front of the cars was a fold up ramp setup and they had the hood open on the first car. When I went back by the other direction 20 minutes later they had the car up on the ramps with its front wheels spinning and a cooling fan setup in front of the car like at the smog tests.

Anyone heard anything about this?

I wasn't driving my Z but my take is that being exempt from the bi-annual smog test in California doesn't mean they couldn't test it like that.

Edited February 3, 2010 by ta240

[SteveJ]

I think they've been doing that in SoCal for a while now. Tony D brought it up a couple of years ago over at Zcar.com. Yes, your Z could be tested despite being "exempt".

http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/4/1912007/1912635#msg-1912635

[ta240]

wow, that really stinks. Driving the Z is fun, I guess it should be illegal.

It really takes the enjoyment out of driving it if I have to keep worrying about running into one of these while doing it.

Aside from that, when I drove by the one in my pictures I was on a short half hour break from work. Won't that be fun explaining to the boss why I'm so late getting back, even if I'm in my truck when they flag me over.

And even more fun, I can legally sell the Z the way it is now with no problem, but I guess if they nab it at one of those I wouldn't be able to sell it without 'fixing' it first.

Edited February 3, 2010 by ta240

[VITAMIN Z]

This is the reason why I will drive my Z on Sunday afternons only!!! you can always count on government agencies not to get in our way on the weekends, as long as the are not sobriety check points. I work near Pasadena and Sierra Madre, and this type of check points are up on a regular basis, luckily I get the green light because I drive the company car that happens to be a Prius!

[ta240]

bummer, bummer, bummer. I have a 55 mile one way commute and on sunny days the Z makes it actually fun.

[psdenno]

Haven't seen them do that since the mid-1970s when I was in San Diego. Could make life interesting with my Z, the '70 Porsche, and the '63 Avanti.

Dennis

[ta240]

about 15 years ago I drove my old Z past an unmanned trailer smog sniffer that took my picture. It was on an uphill freeway on ramp with nowhere else to go. Fortunately I had TN plates on the car at that time so I never heard from them.

I'm guessing the manned setups would love to flag over an older car like the Z.

Aside from the hassle of dealing with all the smog junk I really want to spend my lunch break sitting along side the road watching them waste time and money and explain to my boss why I took an extra half hour for lunch.

I wonder if I hit the kill switch right when I pulled over and pretended like it just died and wouldn't restart if they'd let me just have it towed or if they'd do a visual still.

I can think of a few better ways they could be spending our tax dollars (the best thing would be not to take them from us in the first place). While the CHP driver sat at that roadblock I had a car shift over into my lane on the freeway with no warning about 2 feet in front of my bumper and while I was going 70 and they were going 50 they thought it would be good to move over a lane to the left. Nothing like hearing my trucks tires screech (thank you porterfield brake pads) at that speed to keep me on my toes for the rest of the drive.

Edited February 4, 2010 by ta240

[WingZr0]

TA240 I don't get it, isn't your car exempt? What would be the point of testing it? and a visual don't apply cause your allowed to mod your engine anyway because it is exempt. Why would would they intentionally pull over an exempted car?

Edited February 4, 2010 by WingZr0

[conedodger]

TA240 I don't get it, isn't your car exempt? What would be the point of testing it? and a visual don't apply cause your allowed to mod your engine anyway because it is exempt. Why would would they intentionally pull over an exempted car?

Sorry. That is not true. You may be exempt from smog inspection but you are never allowed to remove smog equipment. Those are Federal Laws, not State.

[WingZr0]

So a better question then is what year did cars in general start coming with smog equipment? The 1970 Z is the only z without smog parts right? Would guess a 57 Chevy shouldn't worry.

Edited February 4, 2010 by WingZr0

[ta240]

aside from the fears of getting nabbed in the Z there's the hassle of being detained with no regard for my time, where I need to be and what not being there is going to cost me.

Our city, county, state, and country are hemorrhaging financially but they have the money to pay for the elaborate setup shown and several people including a CHP baby sitter.

[WingZr0]

See your point on that. It's all a set up tactic. Theres no standing reference book of cars for these guys to see what to pull over and look for anyway so it's all guess work half the time IMO. They should do something better and bring back the chain gains. That'll reduce labor cost AND crime!

Edited February 4, 2010 by WingZr0