Need advice on smogging crate motor and general mechanical work in Encinitas, CA

Hi folks. My new-to-me Scrambler needs a bit of help, I think. After getting it shipped from CO to CA, I took it to get smogged and was told that the crate motor (Chevy 350 TBI) requires me to go to a Referee. Any thoughts on that? Can I simply go elsewhere or will all smog shops direct me to a Ref? I ask because the brakes are very soft and I want to get everything tuned up before I drive to the nearest Ref (about 25 miles away). Have any of you avoided the Ref or have thoughts on going to a Ref? I've never had to use one before.

Beyond going to a Ref, I think my Jeep needs a solid look-over because the PO rarely drove it. It is heavily modified, but he drove it about 10K miles in 14 years. I suspect it could use a full tune up, fluid change, etc., in addition to having the brakes looked at, which are strangely soft and hardly work (I can stop, but better not need to do it fast). Brakes are 4-wheel disk off a Ford F250.

Any recommendations on who to see in or very near to Encinitas? Thanks for the advice.

pm you

In CA there is no regular safety inspection, just regular smog inspection. Brakes work poorly or body and frame rusting through, not a problem. After market air cleaner, big problem. Change the engine, appocalipse! IF the engine has ALL the factory emissions equipment for the year of the engine, then you can get a special tag (from the ref or HP) that allows you to go through smog check for the year and make of the engine . . . basically. Or if you put a CA emissions compliant system, such as Howell Fuel Injection on the engine, then you get your special ID tag for that. Hopefully Mike knows someone in your area that will help you to get it compliant. I found it easier to move out of CA. Good luck!

I got a sick sinking feeling when I read about a Jeep with a swapped engine in CA

No personal experience, but like Kim mentioned, we've all read horror stories about dealing with swaps out there. My take, as Kim said, is that the ref will be looking for every single emissions-related piece of equipment, line, wire, etc. for the year of your motor and the donor.

Essentially, they're checking to see if it's exactly the way it would have been set up in the donor vehicle. (Don't get me started on the common sense of that as opposed to just checking output against what a CJ-8 would have done stock)

It may not be what you want to hear, but you should stop everything right now and think about whether you want to even try to do any of this or if it would be better to sell the Jeep and start with something that you know was smogged in CA. Hopefully you can find a way to make it happen without actually going through what I think you'll have to go through.

Wow, I hope it is not that bad. The PO told me he is not 100% certain, but believes it should be smogged as an 85 Camaro. It should have that motor, tranny and wiring. Hopefully that is the case, otherwise I apparently need to get an SB100 for rare and uncommon vehicles.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Possible option may be the GMPP E-Rod motor.
Here's a link with some good info.
https://theblock.com/news/e-rockin-e-rod-tips-and-information
Not sure about $$, but from what I have seen for CA it's all relative.

Hey,

I have a swapped in 4.0 and TF auto trans. I live in San Diego too. If you use an engine that is offered in light trucks and it is the same year or newer AND you keep it all smog legal for the year the ENGINE was produced....then you are ok. So you can have most V8 engines or any other engine that is offered in trucks that are newer than your Jeep and it will be legal.

I have a smog ref sticker on my rig and it specifies the engine that I swapped and the yearly smog check just scans the sticker (similar to a vin plate). Then the set the settings for the year engine specified on the ref's sticker. Never had a problem.

But you have to have all the smog stuff that was part of the engine for the year.....don't think that you can leave off the smog stuff. They know their specifications too. One year I had a hose installed wrong and the guys caught it.