Thread: Hot Rods and the cops, especially California.

Tweet

Hi all,

Just wanted to hear from all you who drive cars with exposed modifications like tunnel rams and blowers. Legally speaking, we're not supposed to modify an engine even if we don't have to smog-check it, but we do. I'm wondering how stealthy I have to be in keeping my engine covered while on the street. What's been your experience? Ever been busted for mods on an older hot rod?

Originally posted by moparfever
Hi all,

Just wanted to hear from all you who drive cars with exposed modifications like tunnel rams and blowers. Legally speaking, we're not supposed to modify an engine even if we don't have to smog-check it, but we do. I'm wondering how stealthy I have to be in keeping my engine covered while on the street. What's been your experience? Ever been busted for mods on an older hot rod?

few yrs. back had to get rid of my 1980 el camino because it had a 454 with a 671 blower sticking through the hood and they pass a height law saying you couldnt have anything over 2" sticking above the lowest part of the dash. the carbs. was about 6" above the dash. i had been driving the car every day for 3 yrs. before that. in va. if its not stock they dont wont you to have it. i have 1996 cad. taillights in my 1997 s10 and just got a ticket for improper lights but i didnt say anything because he could have wrote me up for, to low, hood scope to high, windows to dark, no rear bumper, to loud, and most of all, wrong motor. im sure glade i live in a free country.
thanks, mike
ps -most of those things you could get away with on a older car but i think the height law ia a safety thing and would apply to any auto.

Glad I live in the sticks.

If i remember correctly a cop pulled me over becouse of my blower sticking up to high. He said if i can't see my radcap from the drivers seat then it was illegal. His reasoning was that if my car was overheating i would'nt be able to tell. I showed him my various collection of gauges, but he did'nt seem to care. Dosent sound like a law to me. FYI bumpers on trucks are optional, so they are not required to be street legal.

In Michigan its.. Hood scoops=vision obstruction. Non factory tinted windows. I once had a state cop make me tear the film off right there. No lighting under the car or wheel wells. Noise. The rest of the stuff they don't seem to care about around here. I have never been stopped for no bumpers, fenders, mail slot chop tops or light heights. Gotta have an outside driver mirror tho..

Originally posted by BOBCRMAN@aol.
In Michigan its.. Hood scoops=vision obstruction. Non factory tinted windows. I once had a state cop make me tear the film off right there. No lighting under the car or wheel wells. Noise. The rest of the stuff they don't seem to care about around here. I have never been stopped for no bumpers, fenders, mail slot chop tops or light heights. Gotta have an outside driver mirror tho..

va. has about got to the piont now if it come from factory that way its ok, other wise dont mess with it. we have a to low law and a to high law and its not much dif., as far as the antique lic. go if you dont drive no more than the law says you can that wouldnt be much fun eather. i think they just wish us car people would just go away. but i ant

Where I live in upstate NY, most cops will pull you over if you have a blower, not to give you a ticket, but to hear it run and ask questions. Glad I don't live in Cal.

Originally posted by Diamond
If i remember correctly a cop pulled me over becouse of my blower sticking up to high. He said if i can't see my radcap from the drivers seat then it was illegal. His reasoning was that if my car was overheating i would'nt be able to tell. I showed him my various collection of gauges, but he did'nt seem to care. Dosent sound like a law to me. FYI bumpers on trucks are optional, so they are not required to be street legal.

B 4 I tore the "Z" apart I set the mock up block N' Blower/injection in place. I could see the ground about 20 ft. in front of the car. Semi tractorz' have a purdy' good sized blind spot too. Blower is only 'bout 15" wide tractor hood iz' 'bout 4'-5' wide. That'll be my excuse anyway. Spoz' they'll buy it?

Hey Diamond . Howz' about a chrome extension for the rad. cap ? He HE HE Then U could see it over the blower.

Sounds good to me, but I'm not a cop.

Originally posted by pro70z28
B 4 I tore the "Z" apart I set the mock up block N' Blower/injection in place. I could see the ground about 20 ft. in front of the car. Semi tractorz' have a purdy' good sized blind spot too. Blower is only 'bout 15" wide tractor hood iz' 'bout 4'-5' wide. That'll be my excuse anyway. Spoz' they'll buy it?

in va. you wouldnt pass st. insp. so you would have to take the blower off, get the stucker then put it back on and hope the cops dont care, but one somewhere all ways do. in 1990 i had a 1979 el camino 350- 471 blower, a 1981 el camino 454- 671 blower and a 1970 chev, conv. 454-671 blower, getting and keeping the at. insp. was to much trouble so i got out of the blower bus. so now i have a lt1 in a s10 which is still illegal but as long as i can get it insp. and someone dont turn me in i can ride for awhile, only because its not sticking out the hood. a hell of a way to go.

Originally posted by lt1s10
in va. you wouldnt pass st. insp. so you would have to take the blower off, get the stucker then put it back on and hope the cops dont care, but one somewhere all ways do. in 1990 i had a 1979 el camino 350- 471 blower, a 1981 el camino 454- 671 blower and a 1970 chev, conv. 454-671 blower, getting and keeping the at. insp. was to much trouble so i got out of the blower bus. so now i have a lt1 in a s10 which is still illegal but as long as i can get it insp. and someone dont turn me in i can ride for awhile, only because its not sticking out the hood. a hell of a way to go.

When I get the "Z" roadworthy alz' I hafta' do is go to the local DMV and give em' 75 bux for the plates. Couple weeks later they'll show up in the mail from Jessie Whites' office and away I go to collect my first ticket. ( No Inspection). Ain't life grand?

I take that back. They'll give me a cardboard temp plate that day. So I could very well have a ticket B 4 the plates get here. He He He

No State inspections, no smog checks. Life in the sticks is just fine, ty. Some cops will make an issue about blowers and tunnel rams, but not too many.

Originally posted by Dave Severson
No State inspections, no smog checks. Life in the sticks is just fine, ty. Some cops will make an issue about blowers and tunnel rams, but not too many.

Yup, City life ain't the life fer' me.

About 5 or so miles from here, there's a stretch of road that has been shut down because they blew an old condemed steel bridge a couple years ago. It runs along side another highway so it problee' won't be rebuilt anytime soon. The dead end road is open only to the 1 or 2 farmplaces on that section of road. Vitually NO traffic. Makes a great test N' tune spot. Some guys even trailer their race cars out there. Can't do that downtown. Naturally I would never do anything like that U understand. HE hE He

Originally posted by BOBCRMAN@aol.
In Michigan its.. Hood scoops=vision obstruction. Non factory tinted windows. I once had a state cop make me tear the film off right there. No lighting under the car or wheel wells. Noise. The rest of the stuff they don't seem to care about around here. I have never been stopped for no bumpers, fenders, mail slot chop tops or light heights. Gotta have an outside driver mirror tho..

Michigan has no forward vision obstruction law for "supported" items i.e., blowers. The obstruction law is for those items that hang down obstructing the driver's view (and even then, this is in the window section of the vehicle code). Aftermarket tint is legal behind the driver's window, but most cops use the 35% rule so long as they can still see you through the glass.

Under car neon lighting is illegal (thank you, as nothing says "rice" better than neon lighting!). Noise is based on 83 dba and I'd challenge the ticket if the cop can show the equipment used to make the decision.

Laws vary by state. Don't trust the cop. Know the laws. Some cops just don't like hot rods.

Originally posted by Swifster
Michigan has no forward vision obstruction law for "supported" items i.e., blowers. The obstruction law is for those items that hang down obstructing the driver's view (and even then, this is in the window section of the vehicle code). Aftermarket tint is legal behind the driver's window, but most cops use the 35% rule so long as they can still see you through the glass.

Under car neon lighting is illegal (thank you, as nothing says "rice" better than neon lighting!). Noise is based on 83 dba and I'd challenge the ticket if the cop can show the equipment used to make the decision.

Laws vary by state. Don't trust the cop. Know the laws. Some cops just don't like hot rods.

That sounds very simiilar to Illinois. I figgur' the best deterrent is to stay on their good side and don't push yer' luck by doin' stupid stuff.