Back in the day it was very easy to smog your vehicle . Just bribe the mechanic with cash or his choice of a adult tasty beverage Remember back in the late 90's and trying to get a sbc conversion 1978 Jeep smogged . Offered the mechanic 3 cases of his favorite beer and two hours later it was ready
I remember it being so bad that one time I gave some mechanic friend of a friend my title until the "proper" car came in that he could use as a dummy. Obviously trusted the deal but sweated it out for a good 3-4 months until I got a 1 year tag,lol...I remember it looked like the days of legally driving these cars were over and I was doing a bunch of scotch-taping of DD year tags to my '70 Z...and hoping I'd never get pulled over...because I imagine the boys in blue would frown on that kind of nonsense...
Thanks for the lead John, I went by yesterday to take a look at it, its not that bad realy. a couple quarter panels and some frame rails and I'll have it back on the road by fall. The guy only wanted $1500 for it but I talked him down to a grand. Its got a running 350 and TH350 behind it. will need some interior work and new electrical throughout but I've BTDT. I'll be picking it up Saturday. Thanks again!
So then what happened in CA to where you went from bribing people to get your car passed to no inspection at all? It was always my understanding that CA had some of the toughest inspection standards in the country.