Emissions Testing Inquiry

[Faduuba]

Hey everyone, I was hoping to get some advice with my car since I've tried for a while myself with no luck.

I have a 73 dodge charger with a new 383 put in with a performance edelbrock intake manifold and 650 avs carburetor.  Since I've had that done, whenever I go through emissions it fails miserably, even tho its brand new.  In the end, just so I can drive it, I have to take it to a emissions repair shop that just weens out the carb to a low amount and then I'm able to pass.  I'd like to not have to do that.

After the first time doing this I tried a few things.  One was trying to fabricate the linkage for the carburetor.  When i had the 4 BBL carb installed, they failed to mention they tried to use my old 2 BBL linkage.  I had a few mechanic friends help me with that, so now it at least drives better, but still fails emissions.  The second thing I noticed after squeaking by emissions testing was that the coal canister was hooked up to nothing except the gas tank.  I took it to a decent mechanic which could figure it out for nothing.  So in escence, i have this 650 carb with no emissions equipment even hooked up to it.

At this point I think have two options. One would be to just scrap the idea of having this large 4 BBL carb on my car and go back to having a 500 cc 2 BBL, the old linkage, and intake manifold that has places to hook up to the coal canister.  And two would be to try to modify it further by installing  a Catalytic Converter on my car.

Any advice at all would be much appreciated because at this point i've had so much trouble with this car its taking away from owning it.  All i want to do is just cruise .

[OttawaCharger]

welcome to the board.
How about keeping two carburetors?  One for the yearly test and one for driving.  It doesn't take long to swap a carb.

[Brock Samson]

yes WELCOME! 

what state you in?..

[69charger2002]

i say move out of your state.. anything 10 years and older doesn't have to have emissions testing here.. the ones that really NEED it lol.. seriously that blows.. i would hate to be in your shoes.. you have to be in a northeast state huh?

[Harlow]

I just got my cammed up 383 with an eddy intake and carb to pass. The trick for me was setting the timing farther back then you normally would. where do you have it? Also lean the carburetor out as far as possible. How many turns out do you have it right now? I turned mine in to just a half turn out and the car still ran great. I had my timing at 17* initial(found it likes it better), but if your running a stock cam you should be able to bring it much lower than I did. Just out of curiosity what are you HC and CO #'s right now? I got my HC numbers to 300 (standard is 450) and my CO numbers down to 1.4%.

[Faduuba]

Thanks for the welcome

I live in Phoenix Arizona and anything 1967 and 6 months has to be emissioned every year.

Currently i have the idle set to 1 and a half turns out and the primaries factory default.  I've been taking it to a mechanic to run a dyno test to get the primaries to where they are supposed to be.

i have it set to 10* on the distributor.  When i go through emissions I'm nearly double the allowed amount.  I believe it was 8.9% carbon monoxide but i forget the hydrocarbons.  I'm thinkin the carb is just too big. The mechanic didnt adjust the timing at all just the carb. 

Everything is new from the distributor to the rear end.  I've been working on it a while.

[Harlow]

If your getting a high CO % your idle mix screws are set too rich. I have mine to 3/4 out. I would also pull all your plugs and check to make sure there aren't any wet or greasy looking ones. That would indicated a misfire. I would be its just running way too rich. Do you fail both tests of just the CO test? By the way I'm in Tucson, Az.

[Tom_440]

I just went through the same exercise with my challenger (I'm in Vegas). You would be amazed what a slight turn of your mixture screw will do for your tailpipe. I turned my in (while hooked to the sniffer) till it started to run bad and then passed easily. Just remember your settings for next year. (Maybe a line of nail polish on the carb base and screw before you richen the mix to get it to run well). Doesn't hurt to retard the timing if necessary.

[hemihead]

Dump about 4 or 5 bottles of dry gas in it.

[Musicman]

No emissions for older vehicles here in CT either... Thankfully 

[hutch]

no tests for cars made on or before 1974 in Virginia.   

[Silver R/T]

get collectors plates and you wont have to do emissions

[chgr500]

The 383 was a smog monster....one reason the 383 was taken out of production after '71 was due to increased emission standards from EPA....the 383 couldn't meet the specifications and out came the detuned 400cid...your allowable readings are determined from your VIN so your car is also being tested with what ever engine your car should have originally came with in '73....I have a '71 383 and I have to retard timing...lean out carb...run throught with no pcv valve or air cleaner on....also keep my idle near max. allowable 950rpm...I have a high lift cam and at idle the HC are high so thus the high idle feature..most of my past problems were with high HC at idle...lots of fresh air to suck in...I have to do this yearly to get a few month of insurance..PIA  ...what does you car fail on?

[Faduuba]

It fails on HC and CO% in idle and fails on CO under load.

yea originally my car came with a 400.  I couldn't find one to swap into it so I went with the 383.  From the sounds of it, it looks like everyone has that trouble once a year lol.

I'll keep playing around with the carb and timing.  Thanks for the help everyone.

[Charger_Croatia]

Not to steal the thread, but I will need to pass the test after finish a car. But, my car has original 400 2 bbl so I guess it shouldn't be an issue with the test.

My question is: what are factory emissions settings on 1973 400 2 bbl engine, or better to say what should be HC and CO reading (acceptable)? I have a friend who can help me with tuning the carb correctly and I appreciate if someone can advice about this numbers.

[41husk]

no tests for cars made on or before 1974 in Virginia.   

Same in Illinois, No test for cars with AV registration.

[Faduuba]

Well if its anything like Phoenix, its 400 for hydrocarbons and 5-6% for carbon monoxide for idle and under load.  Previously, with the 400 and the 2 BBL i had, i had to turn the jets in just a tad and i'd pass no problem.  If anything, i did a tune up that time of year; plugs, air cleaner, etc.

[dukeboy_318]

im so glad indiana doesnt have that stupid crap, itd drive me nuts