Making my Miata Legal for Cali
 

Hi,
Long story short I may be moving to Cali and I don't want to leave my miata behind.
What can I do to make it cali legal?

List of mods I think will be problematic.

- Flyin Miata 2 Turbo Kit (can i convert this into a stage 1 with minimal work, or is that not possible? because the stage 1 says its carb legal)
- Garrett GT2560R Ball Bearing Turbo
- FM2 Intercooler
- FM2 Downpipe
- Megasquirt MSPNP2 ECU
- Mishimoto Aluminum Radiator

- Coolant Reroute
- DW700 Injectors
- Walbro 255 Fuel Pump

- AEM Intake with Heat Shield
- NGK Copper Spark Plugs
- NGK Spark Plug Wires

- Catless test pipe
- Racing Beat resonated mid pipe
- Vibrant 12" resonator
- Dual 3" blast pipe exhaust tip
- Charcoal canister delete

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8b2cbb24a5.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...749aaa79c5.jpg

Pro tip: smog shop / BAR ref does not care about stages, bro.

All fueling / induction / emissions / evap / cat / pre-cat exhaust changes need EO numbers. Getting it CARB-legal on paper means returning to stock, aside from the catback.

Edit: I forgot how helpful FM can be sometimes with individual parts, so getting an EO sticker and supporting parts for a pre-bought kit is not impossible as it might be with some other vendors.

so the best thing to do is just sell it then? :(

FM has an EO for the FM1 turbo kit.

So, what you need to do is call up FM and order any parts that are required for the EO CA kit but not included in the kit you have, and install them. You also need the sticker that they include. They should be able to supply you with detailed instructions, but at a high level you'll need to remove the megasquirt & injectors, reinstall stock ECU & stock injectors, and add whatever the CARB EO fueling solution is (Voodoo piggyback, I think).

You'll also need to put the stock cat back on as well as the charcoal canister. Technically I suspect the fuel pump isn't CA legal, but in practice it makes no difference to emissions and they won't notice it at the smog test. Exhaust components after the cat and radiator are not smog-related parts. There is a CA law regulating noise levels from exhausts, but they don't enforce it at smog checks.

--Ian

Thanks for the info! I sent an email to FM hopefully they respond soon.
the stock ecu, injectors and cat should be pretty cheap finds.
If I can get it done within a $1000 i think it'll be worth while.

The exhaust isn't too loud. Pretty sure it's below their 95 decibel limit.

I found some rather annoying info on the FM site.
"When installed correctly, the Voodoo will not cause any problems with the OBD-II system. It's a fundamental part of our 50-state legal turbo kits for the NA and NB. The CARB EO only applies to the complete turbo kit, the Voodoo Box alone is not approved for use in California."
So frustrating :/

I recommend calling FM rather than emailing, IME that's a much faster and more direct route to answering complex questions like which parts you need.

The Voodoo is not legal by itself, but then there's no way to install a turbo that's legal by itself either. All the Voodoo does is add fuel & modify timing under boost (it leaves the engine alone when not in boost), so there's really no point to having a Voodoo on its own.

The Voodoo would be legal on your car as a part of a complete kit. You currently own about half the parts for that kit, you just need the rest of them.

--Ian

Ah, that would make sense. So its legal with the rest of their setup but not something diy someone decides to use it for.
I'll call them up and see what can be done here.

To be honest, if this can be done I would just stop by flyin' miata on the way to cali and have them do all the necessary mods... Would be done right that way.

You shouldn't need to see ref, only pass smog. To do that you will need to have CARB OE stickers for everything or return to stock. SMOG station tech will check your evap (including leak/pressure test), cat and pre-cat (if applicable), intake, etc. But they are slightly less stringent and thorough than an actual ref.

Reply from Flyin'Miata and it's great news!

"We’re actually working on a CARB conversion kit (which would include a CARB EO sticker) for existing Voodoo and FMII turbo kits. Basically, the FM Stage 1 turbo kit is CARB legal because it maintains all the emissions equipment that came on the car from the factory. For example, the stock ECU, fuel injectors and oxygen sensors, stock or CARB legal catalytic converter, EGR system and the stock evaporative emission system. To make a Stage 1 turbo kit, you also need a GT2560R turbo (which you already have) and the blow off valve needs to recirculate rather than vent to atmosphere. As a guide, check out the FM Stage 1 Turbo installation instructions –

https://www.flyinmiata.com/support/i...o_22-1XXXX.pdf

When we get closer to having the CARB conversion kits available, we’ll make a bunch of noise on our website, Facebook, forums, etc. Hopefully sometime early next year."

You still have to track down and reinstall allllll the stock parts you removed though.

Ive been in socal for the past 2 years. I currently daily a setup very similar to yours. So far I've had no issues. I just avoid getting pulled over and haven't gotten state ref'd. Smog with an obd1 vehicle seems relatively easy to obtain. I just keep my stock parts in case something happens but so far I've been lucky. From what I can tell that's what a lot of people do; keep stock parts in case something bad happens. Until then I don't worry too much about it.