What are DMV issues associated with an engine swap?

[chaudanova]

Originally Posted by conradtan

Basically I found the roock 3.8L engine swap page with 370+ hp and all the goodies associated with it for about 12K last I heard and started drooling! So anyone done this to their car and what issues lie ahead as far as the deparment of motor vehicles is concerned? For example like smog (I live in Cali), registration, etc... Thanks in advance.

I've always been under the Impression that here in Cali, you can swap in a motor from the same year, or Newer, provided that you still pass the emissions regulations, ie, cats, emission sensors, etc. to do it the "legal" way, and you can get it approved through the CHP/BAR Ref... This is what we had to do to do it the legal route for the honda motor swaps.

Though for a mid engine boxster, where they can't see the motor, I think as long as you pass smog, it's really your call if you want to go through the smog referee to get the approval sticker or not.