mot & tune yank

[iaiin]

Just got my 1993 camaro z28, its got mot on it (4 months) but since i am thinking about spending some money on paint etc (car has had lots of engine mods & runs strong) I thought i would put it in for mot just to check all is good!
When i got back failure sheet there is about £700!!!!
I cant understand that the car was imported in 2003 with mot at about 2K miles a year (i have all old mots & service history) must of the stuff in failed on was stuff that has not changed for years???
headlamps not uk? abs not working (this has been disconnected for years?),disc brakes are newish but they say they are pitted all round? also engine runs sweet as a nut but failed emissions? Fog light has been converted from centre brake light, (again this has been done years ago) Had new brake pipes fitted but not clipped enough (again 4 years ago?)
The old mot,s were done at diffrent garages so no wrong doing there!
Have i got a bad mot station or what?
Also does anyone know anyone on the south coast that would be able to do this work, or mainly anyone to give car a tune up so it passes emmisions (but also want set up correctly anyway, even though the car done 1/4 mile in 12.5!!)
cheers
ps i thought these yanks were cheap to maintain!!!! ha ha

[LuS1fer]

iaiin said:

Just got my 1993 camaro z28, its got mot on it (4 months) but since i am thinking about spending some money on paint etc (car has had lots of engine mods & runs strong) I thought i would put it in for mot just to check all is good!
When i got back failure sheet there is about £700!!!!
I cant understand that the car was imported in 2003 with mot at about 2K miles a year (i have all old mots & service history) must of the stuff in failed on was stuff that has not changed for years???
headlamps not uk? abs not working (this has been disconnected for years?),disc brakes are newish but they say they are pitted all round? also engine runs sweet as a nut but failed emissions? Fog light has been converted from centre brake light, (again this has been done years ago) Had new brake pipes fitted but not clipped enough (again 4 years ago?)
The old mot,s were done at diffrent garages so no wrong doing there!
Have i got a bad mot station or what?
Also does anyone know anyone on the south coast that would be able to do this work, or mainly anyone to give car a tune up so it passes emmisions (but also want set up correctly anyway, even though the car done 1/4 mile in 12.5!!)
cheers
ps i thought these yanks were cheap to maintain!!!! ha ha

Headlamps should be flat beam and should pass the MOT unless badly adjusted or defective.
Can't comment on the disc brakes being pitted but it is a 160mph car so they may be tougher. You can import a set from the US at reasonable cost from Powerslot rotors - the rear disc also has an inner drum which has tiny shoes for the handbrake.
Fog light needs to be separate. Your car is too new to have the brake light converted but some Yank-friendly MOT stations pass stuff like this.
Your car is obviously tuned to run a 12.5 so I just hope it can pass emissions. In the past, it has not been unknown to shove the sensor up the exhaust of a different car. I would take it to an MOT station with experience of Yank cars.

Try a forum like the AAC for MOT stations.

[Huffy]

Some of the names mentioned in here may be able able to give you some pointers - they are not Southcoast exactly.....but at least south of London

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[balls-out]

Some places are definately more 'picky' than others, although generally I think the bar is being raised all the time.
I had the same with my z28, which had been in the UK for years without indicator side repeaters, but it still failed the first MOT I had done.
Regarding headlights sticky tape as per the one for use RHD cars in Europe are (or were) acceptable for a MOT
Rear Fog should be east enough.

How bad were the emissions? Again, mine failed the emissions at the first test. The guy told me not to worry - he held the revs at about 4000rpm for 3-5 minutes. The windows of the garage office were rattling and there was the smell of hot engine. This got the cat nice and hot and it passed. After than I always did a couple of miles in 3rd gear to get the cat hot again and passed the subsequent MOTs.

[iaiin]

balls-out said:

Some places are definately more 'picky' than others, although generally I think the bar is being raised all the time.
I had the same with my z28, which had been in the UK for years without indicator side repeaters, but it still failed the first MOT I had done.
Regarding headlights sticky tape as per the one for use RHD cars in Europe are (or were) acceptable for a MOT
Rear Fog should be east enough.

How bad were the emissions? Again, mine failed the emissions at the first test. The guy told me not to worry - he held the revs at about 4000rpm for 3-5 minutes. The windows of the garage office were rattling and there was the smell of hot engine. This got the cat nice and hot and it passed. After than I always did a couple of miles in 3rd gear to get the cat hot again and passed the subsequent MOTs.

Cheers for reply,
I have been told since that this certain garage takes the piss as it is more work for them! i will try another one for mot, i want it safe but the car is 16 years old & some of the bits are over the top!

[iaiin]

LuS1fer said:

iaiin said:

Just got my 1993 camaro z28, its got mot on it (4 months) but since i am thinking about spending some money on paint etc (car has had lots of engine mods & runs strong) I thought i would put it in for mot just to check all is good!
When i got back failure sheet there is about £700!!!!
I cant understand that the car was imported in 2003 with mot at about 2K miles a year (i have all old mots & service history) must of the stuff in failed on was stuff that has not changed for years???
headlamps not uk? abs not working (this has been disconnected for years?),disc brakes are newish but they say they are pitted all round? also engine runs sweet as a nut but failed emissions? Fog light has been converted from centre brake light, (again this has been done years ago) Had new brake pipes fitted but not clipped enough (again 4 years ago?)
The old mot,s were done at diffrent garages so no wrong doing there!
Have i got a bad mot station or what?
Also does anyone know anyone on the south coast that would be able to do this work, or mainly anyone to give car a tune up so it passes emmisions (but also want set up correctly anyway, even though the car done 1/4 mile in 12.5!!)
cheers
ps i thought these yanks were cheap to maintain!!!! ha ha

Headlamps should be flat beam and should pass the MOT unless badly adjusted or defective.
Can't comment on the disc brakes being pitted but it is a 160mph car so they may be tougher. You can import a set from the US at reasonable cost from Powerslot rotors - the rear disc also has an inner drum which has tiny shoes for the handbrake.
Fog light needs to be separate. Your car is too new to have the brake light converted but some Yank-friendly MOT stations pass stuff like this.
Your car is obviously tuned to run a 12.5 so I just hope it can pass emissions. In the past, it has not been unknown to shove the sensor up the exhaust of a different car. I would take it to an MOT station with experience of Yank cars.

Try a forum like the AAC for MOT stations.

Because it is a bit tuned for power does that make it bad for emissions?? Or does it mean that it is not running right?

[LuS1fer]

If you have a wild cam, it means you may get excess fuelling or being left unburnt but it may just need tuning. The reason US engines develop lesser power outputs for their capacity is partly because they're tuned to comply with tight emissions. Even taking the cats off means the headers have to be sold for "off highway use only" .

Check the air filter and stick a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank.

[iaiin]

LuS1fer said:

If you have a wild cam, it means you may get excess fuelling or being left unburnt but it may just need tuning. The reason US engines develop lesser power outputs for their capacity is partly because they're tuned to comply with tight emissions. Even taking the cats off means the headers have to be sold for "off highway use only" .

Check the air filter and stick a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank.

Cheers
It does have comp cams in! Will try cleaner & new mot station as i think this one is taking the pi**

[ringram]

Im going to bet with that quarter mile time that your cam is causing you the problems.
If you dont have cats you will definately need them. Get some high density mega cell ones. They will choke the engine but it might pass.
Otherwise consider lateral thinking on the topic.

What are the cam specs? Probably anything with over 0* overlap at 0.050 is going to struggle even with cats.

[iaiin]

ringram said:

Im going to bet with that quarter mile time that your cam is causing you the problems.
If you dont have cats you will definately need them. Get some high density mega cell ones. They will choke the engine but it might pass.
Otherwise consider lateral thinking on the topic.

What are the cam specs? Probably anything with over 0* overlap at 0.050 is going to struggle even with cats.

I dont know much about what it is , just receipts for cams, lifters etc The last owner has said that since he fitted aftermarket headers, sometimes no 7 cylinder melts the lead & it runs on 7 cylinders! I will have to go for a run & spray water on the header coming from that lead to see if its that? would that cause it to fail? The engine work has been done for 7 years now & passed all of the emissions!
cheers Ian

[iaiin]

iaiin said:

Just got my 1993 camaro z28, its got mot on it (4 months) but since i am thinking about spending some money on paint etc (car has had lots of engine mods & runs strong) I thought i would put it in for mot just to check all is good!
When i got back failure sheet there is about £700!!!!
I cant understand that the car was imported in 2003 with mot at about 2K miles a year (i have all old mots & service history) must of the stuff in failed on was stuff that has not changed for years???
headlamps not uk? abs not working (this has been disconnected for years?),disc brakes are newish but they say they are pitted all round? also engine runs sweet as a nut but failed emissions? Fog light has been converted from centre brake light, (again this has been done years ago) Had new brake pipes fitted but not clipped enough (again 4 years ago?)
The old mot,s were done at diffrent garages so no wrong doing there!
Have i got a bad mot station or what?
Also does anyone know anyone on the south coast that would be able to do this work, or mainly anyone to give car a tune up so it passes emmisions (but also want set up correctly anyway, even though the car done 1/4 mile in 12.5!!)
cheers
ps i thought these yanks were cheap to maintain!!!! ha ha

Sorry read print out wrong!!! Does the quarter in 13.7 not 12.5!!!!!!!!!

[LuS1fer]

Still not bad. My '98 Camaro LS1 did it in 13.8 at 105.

[iaiin]

LuS1fer said:

Still not bad. My '98 Camaro LS1 did it in 13.8 at 105.

Wow thats quick, cant wait to get mine on the road to have a bash (if i ever get it through this mot!!!)ha ha< Is mine an LS1 (i dont have a clue??)

[LuS1fer]

iaiin said:

LuS1fer said:

Still not bad. My '98 Camaro LS1 did it in 13.8 at 105.

Wow thats quick, cant wait to get mine on the road to have a bash (if i ever get it through this mot!!!)ha ha< Is mine an LS1 (i dont have a clue??)

No, yours is an LT1 - iron block with alloy heads. 275hp as standard going up to 305 for the '96 SS. The LS1 is the all-alloy engine used in the Corvette which was supposed to have 305hp to distance it from the 345hp Corvette. In reality they dynoed around 295 at the back wheels which means an impossibly efficient drivetrain or Chevy were lying about the output.

The 13.8 was just rolling it off the line too as the mo-fo wheelspan for half the quarter. In the Us they're good for 13.6.

[jeff m]

Were you over on CO and hydrocarbons ?
If you CO is way over somebody has removed the O2 sensor and it is running rich.
Can you put a OB1 reader on it?
If your Hydrocarbons are sky high it could just be a miss, a set of plugs, rotor, cap and clean the PCV valve could bring it down quite a lot.

Or return to the address on the last MOT

EDIT to add. Just read the bit about cylinder 7, I can answer my own question re the hydrocarbons.

Edited by jeff m on Wednesday 8th April 04:12

[iaiin]

jeff m said:

Were you over on CO and hydrocarbons ?
If you CO is way over somebody has removed the O2 sensor and it is running rich.
Can you put a OB1 reader on it?
If your Hydrocarbons are sky high it could just be a miss, a set of plugs, rotor, cap and clean the PCV valve could bring it down quite a lot.

Or return to the address on the last MOT

EDIT to add. Just read the bit about cylinder 7, I can answer my own question re the hydrocarbons.

Edited by jeff m on Wednesday 8th April 04:12

Yes it failed all tests!!!
I think it is running on 7, but would this make it fail all the test?
cheers

[iaiin]

LuS1fer said:

iaiin said:

LuS1fer said:

Still not bad. My '98 Camaro LS1 did it in 13.8 at 105.

Wow thats quick, cant wait to get mine on the road to have a bash (if i ever get it through this mot!!!)ha ha< Is mine an LS1 (i dont have a clue??)

No, yours is an LT1 - iron block with alloy heads. 275hp as standard going up to 305 for the '96 SS. The LS1 is the all-alloy engine used in the Corvette which was supposed to have 305hp to distance it from the 345hp Corvette. In reality they dynoed around 295 at the back wheels which means an impossibly efficient drivetrain or Chevy were lying about the output.

The 13.8 was just rolling it off the line too as the mo-fo wheelspan for half the quarter. In the Us they're good for 13.6.

Are the a hard wearing reiliable engine? Or are the later ones better?
cheers

[jeff m]

iaiin said:

jeff m said:

Were you over on CO and hydrocarbons ?
If you CO is way over somebody has removed the O2 sensor and it is running rich.
Can you put a OB1 reader on it?
If your Hydrocarbons are sky high it could just be a miss, a set of plugs, rotor, cap and clean the PCV valve could bring it down quite a lot.

Or return to the address on the last MOT

EDIT to add. Just read the bit about cylinder 7, I can answer my own question re the hydrocarbons.

Edited by jeff m on Wednesday 8th April 04:12

Yes it failed all tests!!!
I think it is running on 7, but would this make it fail all the test?
cheers

Oh yes your hydrocarbons will be over a 100 .

[iaiin]

jeff m said:

iaiin said:

jeff m said:

Were you over on CO and hydrocarbons ?
If you CO is way over somebody has removed the O2 sensor and it is running rich.
Can you put a OB1 reader on it?
If your Hydrocarbons are sky high it could just be a miss, a set of plugs, rotor, cap and clean the PCV valve could bring it down quite a lot.

Or return to the address on the last MOT

EDIT to add. Just read the bit about cylinder 7, I can answer my own question re the hydrocarbons.

Edited by jeff m on Wednesday 8th April 04:12

Yes it failed all tests!!!
I think it is running on 7, but would this make it fail all the test?
cheers

Oh yes your hydrocarbons will be over a 100 .

Perhaps its only that then! The guy i got it off said that it melts through the ht lead, he put heat wrap round & might stop it but obviously not!! will have to re -routr lead!

[LuS1fer]

iaiin said:

LuS1fer said:

iaiin said:

LuS1fer said:

Still not bad. My '98 Camaro LS1 did it in 13.8 at 105.

Wow thats quick, cant wait to get mine on the road to have a bash (if i ever get it through this mot!!!)ha ha< Is mine an LS1 (i dont have a clue??)

No, yours is an LT1 - iron block with alloy heads. 275hp as standard going up to 305 for the '96 SS. The LS1 is the all-alloy engine used in the Corvette which was supposed to have 305hp to distance it from the 345hp Corvette. In reality they dynoed around 295 at the back wheels which means an impossibly efficient drivetrain or Chevy were lying about the output.

The 13.8 was just rolling it off the line too as the mo-fo wheelspan for half the quarter. In the Us they're good for 13.6.

Are the a hard wearing reiliable engine? Or are the later ones better?
cheers

The later LS1's are obviously lighter, better and stronger which is why Chevy changed them - it was effectively an all-new engine. There's nowt inherently wrong with the LT1 but it does have a ridiculous dinner-plate Optispark distributor on the nose of the crank which is great, in theory, but in practice you have 8 leads running from down where the water can soak it, where the coolant drains every time you change the antifreeze and where road debris can hit it. The early '93 Optisparks didn't have a vent so corroded internally and failed. Later ones from 1994 on should be vented. This, in itself, could cause an MOT fail if it's not in tip-top condition as any short or dampness could cause a misfire. Was it raining when you had your MOT? The later LS1 has 8 coils on top of the engine out of the way of the water - one per cylinder.

I only hope you haven't been sold a pup and the Optispark is defective in some way because saying the lead burns and shorts could be a slick way of conning you if the Optispark is on the way out and they're not cheap or particularly easy to replace. That's why the LT1 is generally unpopular. A friend of mine did replace his and it is do-able but it takes most of a day IIRC and the part was over $600 (plus shipping, duty and VAT)back then. Best get it checked by someone familiar with them.