title pretty much says it all. is it legal to carburate a 96 camaro? i know about passing emissions n such but i dont know if its street legal in the first place

 

In 1996 the federal government mandated the OBD2 system on all cars sold in the US. Every city I have lived in has required some level of communication with this standard system. As a general rule they are looking for a functioning computer with no error and some data logged (meaning not just reset), Something you would not have with a carb.

Here in PA as part of the state wide inspection process (not the emissions) all original emissions equipment must be present to past inspection. Fuel injection is part of the emissions system.

So I can not say for sure but I would be very surprised that a city like Cleveland would be more lax on emission then we are in some backward coal town in the mountain of western PA.

 

i dont know much about echeck procedures... they dont connect a scan tool do they? my last e-check on my honda i wasnt able to watch cuz they had a waiting room. i think im going to carb it and hope they dont notice. it should pass and if not i can always get a fuel injection kit and stash the carb/intake for another project.

 

You really want to check. If your area connects to the computer or required all factory emission items you will fail. Have you done the research? do you know whats all involved? what you are talking about is a huge project.

To pull the injection off you have to disable the computer. You commputer controls a lot of things beside the fuel injection. Things like your ignition system? You doing going the whole motor swap? Why pull the injection system?

 

I would be very suprised if it passes. They will either use a scan tool to check that obd responds, has no codes, and has some stored information. Or, they will use the sniffer, and will have the exact parameters for a 1996 (whatever engine size) emission data. You will have to be under those tolerances, chances are even with a well tuned carb you will still not beat the numbers that FI would produce. Best of luck though.

 

why in the world would you want to give up 300+ hp? You do know that it is the FI system that allows HP ratings to be the same or higher than cars from the 60's and also allow you the ability to drive farther than your local gas station. If you dont know about FI systems get a book, ask questions, learn some skills and keep the good stuff where it belongs. Tuning takes a little more skill and a few new toys but to do it right with a carb or FI you will still need a dyno. Emissions would be the last thing I would worry about if you decide to put a carb on your car. The trans needs the engine input to shift properly, the gauges need the computer, the ABS needs the computer. And do you know that LT1 engines do not have a provision in the back of the block for a distributor? Oh yea the Opti spark unit needs the computer for the advance/retard function of your timing. So yea you will have to modify a Vortech manifold to fit the LT1 engine and then you will need to find a way to fit and air cleaner, and find a way to keep your timing system working properly, keep your guages working right, ABS working right, Oh and you prolly will want to get out of first gear too so your tanny working right... Emissions yea... least of your worries.

Massey

 

Sure you can put a carb on a street Camaro. The question is: "Why the hell would you want to?"

Like others have said, the FI setup feeds data to the computer and the computer controls almost everything under the hood. If the FI isn't there, then the computer will be missing information and at best will put the engine into "limp mode". Definitely not a recipe for performance.

Plus, just as Massey stated, you don't have a lot of room under the hood for a carb and air cleaner to even fit. Not even getting to the point of figuring where you will put the distributor.

Definitely not a project that I would do for a street car. A show car maybe, just to have something different to attack some votes from the judges. But if I was going that route I would figure out a way to put a 572 in there and really go all out.

 

Yea the 572 sounds nice but if I were wanting to build a head turner out of a 4th gen I would save a few more pennies and get the ZR1 engine... yup GM offers them as a crate engine with the computer, wiring and supercharger for around $9K... OH and it is a LS series engine, and the wiring will adapt to the 98+ Camaro with little trouble.

Massey

 

my camaro does not have an LT1. nor a 3800 series. nor anything!!!! no motor is in it at the moment. i still need to some across a gen 1 small block. im basically using the shell to make a whole new project "toy" car. thats why i asked if a carb would be legal (sorry for my unclarity). my friend does have an LT1 out of a 97 trans am, but each and every cylinder has pits, so it needs bored. i mighttt build that up, but it needs new optispark, ECU, harness, injectors, throttle body, and a rebuild/cleaning from the ground up. i would be more than happy to build that, but my reasons for using a gen 1 instead of "technology' (injection, optispark, etc) is cost reasons. the LT1 will also have to be bored out, which will be almost $450, and at that price i can buy an old complete gen 1 350.

 

Then your best bet would be to look at someone else's gen 4 with an LT1/LS1 and see how much room there isn't under that hood for a carb and dist.

The carb would be the easy part. You will probably have to do some cutting a fabrication to get the dist in and be able to access it.