Cost of getting my S13 smog legal

[gripster]

Cliffnotes:

I bought my car in summer 2005. December 2006 -- 1.5 years and 27k miles later (I drive a lot), my car failed smog. Bad piston rings, excessive blue smoke, gutted cat = Gross polluter.

In Sept. 2007, with rising gas prices, I decided to get the s13 back on the road. The car passed smog Jan. 4, 2008.

Here's the breakdown in $:

5 - dielectric grease
5 - pilot bearing (engine was mated to automatic)
8 - spark plugs
10 - exhaust manifold gasket
20 - oil, oil filter
30 - throwout bearing *1
114 - catalytic converter
130 - brake master cylinder (should have gotten 300z bmc)
180 - IACV *2
200 - used, unknown miles on rebuilt KA-E (compression tested, 175 on all cylinders)
$700

Not counting the 2 smog tests (140), shop repair for idle (50) and registration (54), I *feel* it was worth my $700 to get my s13 back on the road.

Notes:
*1 - I had a new clutch kit, but my old clutch looked brand new I just got the t/o bearing and returned the new clutch kit.
*2 - Idle was too high, tried both new motor and original motor IACV valves. Bought new one from Courtesy Nissan, still high and took it to a shop. Ended up being my throttle cable being too tight. Lesson learned.

[rlpinoy]

shouldve just paid someone to smog it for you~ couldve saved you at least $500

[Risu2112]

shouldve just paid someone to smog it for you~ couldve saved you at least $500

Yeah right, it's pretty hard to buy some one to smog your car, plus for some reason 240sx's proc test only smog checks around 40% or so, nearly impossible to find some one shady at a test only station here in cali :<

[gripster]

The car was spewing so much blue smoke even if i paid someone to pass it, other motorists might report it to CHP/DMV.

Mods - I don't know why this was moved from chat to tech talk. I was trying to show "in general" what people can expect to spend to get a car smog legal in cali.

[johngriff]

Good job.

I know allot of people do illegal smogs, but idealy you got your car to good running status, meaning it probably gets great gas mileage.

And with 87 being 3.20 a gallon, the car running well is probably worth the extra 20-30 a week in gas vs just getting the illegal smog.

[DreamN]

shouldve just paid someone to smog it for you~ couldve saved you at least $500

you're a tard. in the long run having his car not only be smog legal, but actually in sound running condition saves him money. by your simple minded logic he would have wasted $200-$300 every two years with those minor problems probably leading to larger, more expensive ones. decreasing the value of the car more so.