Why Not Add a Little Color Under the Hood.

D1JL said:

Notice the Stripes & Mirror Cap, That's what I was getting at.

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Gotcha.

wash said:

Be careful, I've heard California has a street racing law that I think will let them impound a car found with a modified engine even if you were not pulled over for street racing.

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They can't make you open your hood, or search your vehicle for that matter if there's no reason to. Even if he were to get pulled over for speeding, I've never heard of anyone being asked to open their hood. You can speed in a Geo Metro for that matter, so speeding in a Fiesta ST isn't probable cause enough to need to open the hood.

I had some retrofit projectors on my car that were only low beam. Inspection failed me because of lack of high beam. They told me to swap them out and come back. Then the dude told me I could swap them back, but it's illegal and I could get pulled over for it. And I'm thinking, how on earth is a cop going to find out I have no high beams since I can't use them short of turning on my headlights and flipping the switch them self? It's one of those things they can ask you to do but you don't have to because there's no probable cause. I now have projectors with high beams and I can't remember the last time I used high beams.

wash said:

Be careful, I've heard California has a street racing law that I think will let them impound a car found with a modified engine even if you were not pulled over for street racing.

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Almost right.

I am a retired Smog Tech. I do know all about the laws.
If you are caught racing, your car is gone, no mater what.
They can not make you open your hood without a warrant however most young people do not argue with cops and open anyway.
If they do open the hood, the best they can do is give you a ticket for "Suspected Tampering with Emissions Equipment".
The word "Suspected" is very important as the cops are NOT State Licensed Smog Techs.
The ticket makes you go to a State Referee Station for a Smog Inspection.
Plenty of time to fix it.

BTW, there are no more State Referee Stations due to budget cuts, however you can be required to get an inspection at a regular state licensed station.

Dave

I will have to review the law.

I hope you are right but there is also the possibility of getting dinged for street racing when you aren't and then you wind up in court beating the racing charge but getting dinged for tampering.

Any way, I would like to remain as stock looking as possible so no one will have a reason to dig.

I know smog laws are silly, lawn mowers and leaf blowers probably make more smog in LA than post 1995 cars do and I wish we had a sensible closed hood smog inspection system because I think its a good idea to tune for a clean car in cruising conditions and our current system encourages people to run things like test pipes instead of high-flow cats because they are not smog legal replacement parts.

I would love to make a 300 whp Fiesta ST that blows clean but there is no smog legal way to do that and no motivation to stay clean if you don't care about smog laws.

wash said:

I will have to review the law.

I hope you are right but there is also the possibility of getting dinged for street racing when you aren't and then you wind up in court beating the racing charge but getting dinged for tampering.

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Again mostly correct.
If you are there watching street racing, you are considered a participant and can get busted and possibly your car impounded but this is rare.
Another way to loose your car is to speed over 100 MPH.
Also reckless driving, that's three consecutive violations.
So if you do 70 MPH in a 30 zone that's two, then run a stop sign, by by car.

The emission equipment is only a $50.00 fix-it ticket and a Smog Check.
So you fix-it (change the hose), get a smog check, (car passes), pay the $50.00 fine.
If you are not involved in or watching street racing, this ticket is NEVER going to happen.
Cops don't give out emissions tickets too much because of all the law suits, remember they are not State Licensed Smog Techs.

You are more likely to get a ticket for window tint if it is too dark.
This one you don't have to fix anymore, just pay the $50.00 fine.

Dave