Certification of Alternative Fuel Retrofit Systems
California regulations prohibit the conversion of emission-controlled vehicles with retrofit systems to operate on an alternative fuel, such as natural gas, propane, or ethanol, in lieu of the original gasoline or diesel fuel unless the retrofit systems have been evaluated and certified by the Air Resources Board (ARB). The certification of an alternative fuel retrofit system must be obtained by its manufacturer. Certification is issued by ARB once the manufacturer demonstrates compliance with the emission, warranty, and durability requirements. A manufacturer is defined as a person who manufactures or assembles an alternative fuel retrofit system for sale in California. An individual who wishes to convert a vehicle for personal use does not fall under this definition and cannot certify a retrofit system in California.
Individuals interested in converting their vehicles to operate on an alternative fuel must ensure that the alternative fuel retrofit systems used for their vehicles have been certified by ARB. The list of certified retrofit systems for various vehicle makes and models are available online. You may view a list of certified retrofit systems for 1994 and newer model year vehicles (Acrobat - 31K), or for 1993 and older vehicles (Acrobat - 1.50M).
View the procedures for certifying retrofit systems designed to convert vehicles to operate on natural gas, propane, or ethanol fuel at (Acrobat - 1.95M). To obtain information on certification requirements for retrofit systems using other alternative fuels such as hydrogen, plug-in hybrids, biodiesel, please contact Rose Castro at (626) 575-6848, or via email at
[email protected]
Subject Top Page: Aftermarket, Performance and Add-On Parts Regulations (http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/AFTERMKT/altfuel/altfuel.htm)
I believe there is a way to bypass this.
I suggest doing it with a Pre-1975 240sx.
WHAT?? Pre-1975 240sx!!??
Well, this is what I've heard from a friend of mine, and I have not confirmed this information yet, but it seems very plausible and logical in a sense. This info may be true or false, you can do the research!!
Okay, so you have an S13 or S14 USDM. Now, you have an old rusted 240Z sitting in your back yard doing nothing but collecting dirt and rust.
My friend says that it is Legal to conbine these two cars. He says that the requirement is that you will have to have at least 4 FEET of one car in the other car.
So he says one of the comming things people do if it works is swapping out a rear end (which is 4' long) and you can legally change your vehicle by using the desired title of the pre 1975 vehicle.
Example:
I can cut out 4' length of a floor pan off the 240z or 260z and weld it onto the bottom of my floor pan of my 240sx. I can then go to the DMV and file a JOINT or merge vehicle.
***This makes sense because what if you had 2 Parts cars and wanted to complete 1 car and junk the other...
So, If you can retrofit a Steering rack or rear end or 4' length off a pre 1975 vehicle,
****I also hear that a lot of ROCK Climbing Vehicles (Pre-runners, Jeeps and others) use this method as well to satisfy their HIGHLY modified Rock Crawlin' hill jumping high horsepower machines. You see these Trucks on the road all Lifted and not Smogg legal, but they use this method of "Pre1975 4 FEET fusion" to bypass the California smog requirements****
AGAIN, this information is not confirmed BUT it makes sense to me.