3.6 engine swap in california post 1975 body

[F1addict]

Looking into a 3.6 swap for my 1983 SC and if any one here in California has done one and had it certified by the California's BAR?
My car is a euro car that was brought in at some point and made legal to comply with the laws for the 3.0 which means it has an O2 sensor, cat, air injection heads and a air pump.
It also come up with a flag on their screen when I take it in to get it smogged so they check the BAR sticker in the door and make sure all the items are on the vehicle.
This might be a good and a bad thing? If I go with a OBD1 3.6 and leave the emission systems from the 3.6 they might not know the difference since they will both have an air injection system, cat, O2 sensor although different. It will also have a dual distributers thought too.

One thing that concerns me is that on the BAR web site it mentions if there is a check engine light with the donor motor that has to be transplanted as well. I'm looking at a 95 and that has a check engine light and I just learned the signal comes from a different brain than the one that manages the injection which seems problematic.

I know many people have done this swap but has any one on this forum actually done one and taken it in for the certification?
Thanks for any help guys!

here is a link to California's guidelines to engine swaps.

https://www.bar.ca.gov/Industry/Engine_Change_Guidelines.html

[jadewombat]

I would suggest instead of going with dual distributors for the ignition to leave them hooked up so the brain still gets a signal and just go crank-trigger with an aftermarket ignition system (both Megasquirt and Redline Weber can do dual-ignition).

If they're not too thorough on a visual inspection at emissions, you could leave the spark plug wires hooked up to the distributors and just hide the coilpacks somewhere and the wires. Crank-trigger wasted spark runs a lot cleaner and should help you pass what is coming out of the tailpipe.

3.6 Engines | Rennsport Systems | Porsche Performance Systems and Support

[F1addict]

Originally Posted by jadewombat

I would suggest instead of going with dual distributors for the ignition to leave them hooked up so the brain still gets a signal and just go crank-trigger with an aftermarket ignition system (both Megasquirt and Redline Weber can do dual-ignition).

If they're not too thorough on a visual inspection at emissions, you could leave the spark plug wires hooked up to the distributors and just hide the coilpacks somewhere and the wires. Crank-trigger wasted spark runs a lot cleaner and should help you pass what is coming out of the tailpipe.

3.6 Engines | Rennsport Systems | Porsche Performance Systems and Support

I'm not to worried about the car actually passing the test. If it has the cats and air injection it should pass. What I'm wondering about is some of the details for making it legitimate in their eyes and looking to see if anyone here has done the processe in California. Certainly there must be some one on this forum that has done this.

One area I'm concerned with is the exhaust manifold. in their guidelines it says you can't mess with these things, but a 993 exhaust won't work with cats in a 911sc so I will need to run headers and cats in that case.

[sandiego]

PM sent re: check engine

[v2rocket_aka944]

can't you just unbolt the 3.0 long block from the 3.0's intake/exhaust/emissions equipment and put the 3.6 in its place?

just re-use all the "exterior components" just with bigger displacement underneath?

[F1addict]

I wish it were that easy, but from my research thats not possible. I'm told they have different flange spacing. I do know of 2 members on here in California that do have legal 3.6 conversions so there is a way although it might not be the best option for peek power, but at least I will be able to get it smogged and then go from there.

[JossP80]

If no one responds, please do keep us updated with ehet you uncover. I know others are going through this, and I'm planning to go through with this within the next year (if I go 3.6... Still debating 3.2 vs 3.6 and this is one of the concerns).

Instant-G – No Smoke, No Mirrors, Just FAST! is a great place for general swap info... Steve might even have some info on Cali smog-legal details if you reach out directly, if you haven't already done so.