a friend of mine installed 3 catalytic converters side by side before the smog test, he removed it after he passed the test.... 

he owns a Clubman

I had a brain fart, car I'm looking at is a 1976.

1975 is still smog exempt. Lots of people get confused with that. They think 1974 is the cutoff and 1975 needs smog. BUT personal experience has demonstrated to me that 1975 is smog exempt.

Older smogged cars need to pass a visual inspection as well as a tailpipe test. The smog year Midgets, Americas, and Spitfires had belt driven air pumps with ports on the heads and also a pcv valve. There is also possibly a distributer casting number in record that is for vehicles with smog equipment and a specific advance curve. They will also hit it with a timing light to see if you are trying a different timing setting to get the tailpipe readings that you want.

If the car sniffs clean but any of that stuff is missing or out of specification, the car will fail.

Why not go to a smog referee directly and find out what they look for when they smog whatever specific car you take to them?

 

Depends on what equipment was on a 1975 when it was original. I rebuilt a 1978 MGB and got it to pass smog but it took 4 tests, a new CAT, and some adjustments. Basically, they will require smog inspection of the car every two years(2??) to make sure you kept it original. IE: One of the questions asked at the beginning of the test: Have you changed the carbs, or the CAT?

They can pass, as the equipment required in 75 was minimal, but I would vote to keep looking for a different car.

Jerry

I don't know what is required for a car to pass California smog test but if it is just a simple sniffer test of the exhaust as the jets on SU's and Strombergs (75 Spitfire) are adjustable you could weaken the mixture before the test an re set it afterwards to pass as they do elsewhere, something tells me though that it is a lot more complicated and not that simple in California.

So I live in the federal republik of Kalifornicate and we're supposed to get smog tests done when vehicles change hands or every two years.

I haven't been able to find a 1975 and older car within my budget and I think sellers are addinga premium to their price since they typically list in their ad that it doesn't require SMOG.

So I ask yee of many knowledge, will a British car, example a 75 Spitfire, pass SMOG in California? Am I just worrying unnecessarily?

If you own classic British cars and you deal with SMOG I will love to hear from you.

Thanks.