talked to the smog ref,he said he did not think the lightning s/c swap would be legal in calif.but he would check into it and get back to me.is anyone out there famillar with the kenne bell setup,i know it has less boost "6 PSI" and no intercooler but its supposed to run cooler?

 

Yup Kenne Bell are 100% smog legal

 

So are the lightning kits... otherwise there wouldn't be any L's in Cali!!!!

 

I had the KB kit and did not like it.I'm running a lightning set up now and its making way more power and I have cooler charg temps.

Phil

 

Just because it is legal to buy a L in Kali, does NOT mean that it is legal to swap the engine parts into a non-L truck. The smog laws here are VERY whacked. The swap laws are VERY specific here. Swapping parts between motors is typically NOT legal - you would have to swap the entire engine and use the L ECU. Plus, the engine would have to come from a later model vehicle - you could not put a 2002 L motor into a 2003, but you could put the 2003 L motor into a 2002. You also would NOT want to advertise that you had a custom tune, as those are NOT legal - tuners are legal (as long as they have the CARB EO number), but CUSTOM tunes are not.

If there is no CARB approval for the INDIVIDUAL parts, then they legally cannot be swapped.

People who have not dealt with CARB and BAR should not make assumptions about what is legal and what is not. If you do talk to a referee, make sure you get it in writing!!! I know more than one person who got burned on engine swaps when they had a ref tell them that it was OK, only to have a different ref fail them after the swap was done. Different refs have different interpretations of the laws. Get names of the people you talk to, and get everything in writing!

 

It's not neccessarily the whole engine. How different is an L swap from bolting on a Procharger?? Smog is Smog.. if the engine passes the fume test then no big deal right?? Same engine, tranny just a power adder.. Not to mention OEM and FORD stamped across the front of it. If not, I can promise I'll never be a resident.

 

how about this for a hypothetical. what if you go from a 4.6L 2000 to a 2002 5.4 Lightning swap AND start adding upgraded parts (eg. pulleys, throttle body, intake, heat exchanger, headers, etc.) ? let's say you have this setup and pass the emissions test with flying colors, can they still fail you for having certain aftermarket components on your vehicle? what is the criteria?

 

My son is a smog tech. here in cali. He told me that if it looks stock "NO" aftermarket parts and the smog tech don't know its not an lighting and runs clean you might be okay. Now if you are running some aftermarket parts and a "L" swap and no CARB I.D you must is a state referee to aprove the swap and they will place a CARB I.D on the truck this also those for car.

All the B.S that you have to go though with smog in cali is really tough and sometimes a lot of time that I did not want to waste thats partly why I went with Kenne Bell

 

Commiefornia sucks...seriously...

 

I have to agree with that!!

Nothing personal to you guys it's just alot of BS!!

James, where in LA are you from? I went to school at UL.

 

Not everything sucks....southern California has the best weather in the world. Plenty of sun, practically no rain, no extreme temp changes, no snow....and the women......

 

i know that ? was directed to the other james but my name is james too and i also live in LA (San Fernando Valley).

i found a pretty cool smog guy in the valley. he's into trucks and rock crawls with his jeep....if i stay on his good side chances are he'll overlook the fact that i have a modified engine in my truck

 

Simple - the Procharger "kit" has an E.O. number. That is Executive Order for those non-Kali's out there. That means that the components were submitted for testing and were proven to keep the engine within specified emissions limits. The Lightning blower, while a stock part of a Lightning, is itself not emissions certified as it does not carry an E.O. number, and is therefore not legal to install on a non-Lightning truck. Smog is not Smog. Yeah, rules like these keep the riff-raff out

 

Kali sucks!!! haha! Sounds like political BS to me!

 

political BS is right given the fact that every time i look up i see a thick brown cloud hovering over LA i can't say our unusually strict emission laws are having much effect. it's just another way to gouge consumers IMO. i say "effe" the legislators and emission *****....i'm proceeding with project "El Swap" anyway!