ok guys, after a few years the time has come and she needs to pass smog. so heres the deal, its a 77 f150 4x4 with a 400. basically i failed smog and was told i have two options, rich out the carb just a hair or put a cat on....i really dont wanna put a cat on so im lookin for some help with the carb. im open to any suggestions or advice she didnt fail by much but im defiantly gonna need some fine tuning, thanks in advance.

 

Are you running 10% ethanol gas? The ethanol leans it out a little. Running 100% gas, if you can find it, will help some. Higher intake air temps will also richen it a bit. Is your intake heat setup all intact? Maybe setting it up so the intake flap is always pulling heated air from the "heat stove" will help. Air intake restriction will also richen a bit... do you have an old but still intact air cleaner you could install? It would be kinda like a partial choke.

 

Dunno here the OP lives in CA, but there is no ethanol available here in LA LA Land.

New 1977 F150 2WD/4WD 300/302/351M/400 were required to have a cat converter in most CA counties. The counties not requiring a converter were mostly located in rural NorCal.

Companies that sell new replacement converters that are located in the other 49 states cannot sell them to CA residents. Finding a new replacement converter in CA will not be EZ.

 

tune carb, adjust dist and apply for historical plates. no smog and its cheaper all around.

 

Frankly, I'm surprised that the smog tech gave you options. In Ca, you must have at least all federally required smog parts on your vehicle if it's on the road. That being said, I would go to a muffler shop (it never hurts to have one of these guys as a personal friend) and have a CC installed. If you play your cards right, you can also have a spool piece made so that both can be easily swapped when smog comes up again in two years.

 

glad i got the 460 in my truck

 

Where in the he!! did you come up with this info? It's total BS. Don't believe me? Call the CA DMV's 800 number and ask about this wild mule p!ss, you'll get an education PDQ.

What historical CA plates are available for these trucks? N-O-N-E = NONE! There are none available for 1956/72's either and AFAIK, not available for any post war vehicle.

Personal plates are available, but these are not historical plates.

CA smog tests all 1976 and newer vehicles. There is no exemption for any kind of license plates, no waiver if the parts are obsolete.

If the vehicle cannot pass a smog test, it cannot be registered, it's as simple as that. It's either fix it, or park it.

 

I have a 75 so emissions arent an issue for me but I hadnt realized this was an option. Is it still worth the effort? How do you go about it... DMV I suppose? Just ask for it or can it be done on the internet?

 

It's not an option, it's BS! The member that typed this jazz hasn't a clue. There is no such thing as historical plates for these trucks. There is no such thing as a smog exemption for any type of license plates.

Ridiculous, just ridiculous, where in the he!! do peeps come up with this crap?

 

ok so heres the deal with the whole cat. thing, my aunt, who bought the truck in 77 swears it came without a cat. this truck has also never had a cat and passed smog just fine up untill 99 when it was put in to non operational registration and parked untill i turned 15. for all you guys who live in california there is a foot note in that smog book that tells the smog guy what numbers you have to have...its number 44 and it say catalytic converters are required, if equipped . therefore since my cats are simply not equipped i do not need them. this is the second smog mechanic to tell me this and i was shown the footnote in the book that says so. that aside i really dont wanna put a cat on and i do understand how hard it can be to find one out here in California. so its gonna have to be the carb. Ca. smog is designed to get cars like this off the road. and that is part of the reason there are no historical plates for these trucks.

that said, i have the stock air cleaner...will look into making sure it only pulls from the stovepipe, any other ideas how about gas? is premium good for smog? thats what she has in her.

 

So here is a silly question... Why are cats so hard to come by? Cant a muffler shop simply weld a universal unit in? I personally have no use for this info at this time but it doesnt hurt to know.

 

Ca smog requires that the CC be the exact replacement for your vehicle. No high flow or generic cheap model. I had this issue with my 84. The price was almost $400 and that was through my buddy!

 

Did they tell you what you failed on? HC, NOX CO ect.? Also actual readings vs max allowable? Depending on where the problem is, timing adjustments might even help.

Richening the idle is easy with the adjustment screws but doesn't do much of anything at load. I'm not familiar with the test process and cycle. Is it run on a chassis dyno under load?

Premium burns a little slower. I would guess it would help NOX but maybe hurt HC.

 

2x with 84espy .....Replacement cats have to be certified by the CARB to be a specified equivalent. Btw, Magnaflow makes replacement 49-state cats for the normal parts of the country but also makes CA-certified units. I'd give'em a call if you're gonna go in that direction.

But I'd fight tooth and nail with the CARB/DMV with documentation (title history/Marti report/factory manuals/references, etc.) if my rig was not required to be equipped with cats. If ya give up and indeed install cats, then your rig will always be required to have 'em... at your cost to initially install them and at your cost to replace them in the future.

Yes, smog tests are run on rollers to place the engine and drivetrain under load... they also test the fuel tank cap to make sure it seals so fuel vapors don't vent to the atmosphere. Hence, emissions systems have a charcoal canister to absorb the vapor which is, in turn, vented to the air cleaner inlet for its introduction to the combustion system.

Premium fuel will not burn cleaner. In fact, using premium fuel may actually hurt because these rigs have low compression. A fuel's octane rating is the measure of its resistance to ignite. High compression engines (think drag racing engines) require higher octane so it doesn't pre-ignite (knock) prior to being lit off by the ignition spark. What you need is a clean and complete burn... which results in less CO and NOx.

 

alright so ill go with regular gas. im deffinently not gonna put a cat on so i guess ill just work on the carb. and i will post the resuslts of the test this afternoon (there in the truck and i park it in my aunts garage across town) i failed the NOx and the Co but not my much and the guy put tamperd on the emissions equipment secton...guy thought he was gonna fine me for not having cats untill he saw the footnote..then he started all this BS about how he will find his customers a loophole if he can....i walked into the shop knowing i didnt need cats!