I hear lots of talk about what is or is not legal in my state and others when it comes to vehicle mods..
Where do I go to get the real accurate info as to what is legal.
The specific topic this time is in N.C - are sidepipes legal and what engine exhaust mods are legal to a 1978 vehicle (eg: cat. converters).
I was always told that exhaust CANNOT exit in front of the rear tires, but how about the new trucks with this as standard ? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif

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Gotta have a Chevy !In Durham N.C.
Make it look the way you like it, forget what the other guys say! :D

Our DMV in Mass has a website and I was able to send a E mail to get a clarification about the new IM test. Maybe NC has one?

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Frank W
Arlington MA
74 Laguna S3 !! ( No motor yet)
73 Malibu Coupe Mighty 305 Power
hometown.aol.com/folingo/ (http://hometown.aol.com/folingo/)

Federal law says that the exhaust must exit rearward of the passenger compartment, period. So on trucks the exhaust can easily exit in-front of the rear wheels. On a car this may or may not work depending on the body style. As a side note Federal law overrides any State law reguarding the same safety standards (i.e. In the state of Washington the books say 24" minimum headlight height, but Federal law says 22" minimum. This is an oversite that has never been corrected.)

go to www.dmv.dot.state.nc.us (http://www.dmv.dot.state.nc.us)
i found that from here in CA

I wonder how long that Fed. law about exhaust has been on the books? I remember a couple of mighty mopars, one called the TA Challenger, 340 tri power deal, side exhaust from the factory, not to mention all the corvettes that had factory side pipes.

I don't remember any Fed laws that superseded Maryland laws regarding exhaust.



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Wally
Gold #67
67 Malibu "Small Block" second owner
90 SS454
71 Malibu "Small Block"
93 torch red vette(crashed)Bad day at Blackrock!

Thanks for all the suggestions - I had already found the NC DMV site, but no specifications or requirements there. I did e-mail them a request for info.
No answer yet.

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Gotta have a Chevy !In Durham N.C.
Make it look the way you like it, forget what the other guys say! :D

283V8, you might want to try and just contact the guys that'll enforce it. I would suggest calling a state police hq in your area. If the trooper that answers can't help, I'm sure he can direct you to one that can. Most really know their stuff, and they'd sooner tell you what not to do now, than give you a ticket for it later. The DMV can maybe read you chapter and verse, but the troop will give you the scoop.

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Don - Chicago 'Burbs
'67 Malibu Street Machine
"Under Construction"
Gold #43
I've heard that the memory is the second thing to go.
I don't remember what the first thing is!?

interesting about the exhaust to the rear of the passenger compartment.i'm kinda curious about the side exhaust too. the t/a's and the aar cuda have the same exhaust (aar's shorter head pipe.) i have an aar. i'm sure the law states other than factory equipment.
don't let the mopar boys hear you call it tri power. it's six pack or 6 bbl. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by mild68ss (edited 02-15-2000).]

Man I forgot about the "six pack" deal, to many big block corvettes has made me tainted.

The only law that Maryland has recently started enforcing has to do with dual exhaust, and it applies to the newer cars with one or two cats. If the vehicle came from the factory with duals, then you can do headers, dual cats and nice pipes, if it only had single you are screwed, you can still run headers but just one muff and one pipe.

That puts the kabosh on all the cowboy cadilacs around here, the ones jacked up over my hood!

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Wally
Gold #67
67 Malibu "Small Block" second owner
90 SS454
71 Malibu "Small Block"
93 torch red vette(crashed)Bad day at Blackrock! 6 grand in damage!

Damn those tree huggers !!If "emissions laws" are to reduce emissions, then why do they even care what you do as long as emissions are met ??
PS: DaDon you may have the best idea yet - I'll call the local State troopers.

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Gotta have a Chevy !In Durham N.C.
Make it look the way you like it, forget what the other guys say! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by 283v8 (edited 02-16-2000).]

The Vette question is easy: The "passenger compartment" ends after the front seats, so the exhaust does in fact meet the rule.

Kurt

I wonder which of the fed agencies is responsible for enforcing the exhaust system stuff? Since I live in the nations capital and work for the Treasury, it would be kind of interesting to find out.

Could it be DOT?

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Wally
Gold #67
67 Malibu "Small Block" second owner
90 SS454
71 Malibu "Small Block"
93 torch red vette(crashed)Bad day at Blackrock! 6 grand in damage!