Emission Stickers 69 Camaro

[hpaddict]

Hi, looking at buying a 69 Camaro and was looking at the requirements to get it regeistered (From Reno, NV to Calif)
I am not sure how much effort is going to be required. There were some comments on DMV site about inspecting the emission
stickers.

Did the 69 actually  have an emission sticker?  I thought it had a smog pump.   If it did, can those be purchased?   
I would hate to buy stock headers and a smog pump just to get this thing registered.

ANy info on the process appreciated.

[bertfam]

Sorry, while California no longer performs yearly smog checks on cars older than 1976, they still require all the original smog equipment to be installed on the car and if you get pulled over for any infraction, they can ask you to pop the hood and if it's not there, ticket time.

To register a car in California (ANY car), a smog certification from a California smog station is required. The only way to do this is to have all the original smog equipment attached as well as the required sticker(s). I'm not sure how in-depth the smog check is, but if I remember correctly, it has to pass the regulations for the model year the car is. In your case, 1969. Maybe they just look at the sticker and the components, so you should call the California DMV (or any smog check station) to find out.

Ed

[Fred Mertz]

Hmm........I purchased my '69 Camaro in '05.  At that time California DMV required no smog inspection certificate or visual inspection.  No yearly renewals have ever required an inspection.

This is my experience.  Others may very

Fred

[bertfam]

Hmm........I purchased my '69 Camaro in '05.  At that time California DMV required no smog inspection certificate or visual inspection.

Did you bring your car in from another state or buy it in California?

No yearly renewals have ever required an inspection.

That's correct. Like I said before, California no longer performs yearly smog checks on cars older than 1976.

Either way, to the OP, contact the California DMV and see what they say. Laws change yearly! For example, "Fix-it" tickets now come with a fine. I can remember a time when I was a kid in the late 60's, early 70's. We tore up the highways with out hot rods and got only warnings. Burned out tail lights? Warnings or fix-it tickets. Loud (or NO) exhaust? Fix-it ticket. It sure is different today. A missing muffler is a fix-it ticket, but it also comes with a THOUSAND DOLLAR fine!

California police are nothing but revenue generators. Don't looks for REAL crime. That doesn't make any money for big brother.

If I didn't have so many roots and responsibilities, I'd be outta this state so quick the door would still be swinging after I settled in to my new place.

I'll get off my soap box now, but you can probably guess how I feel about this state.

Ed

[rich69rs]

California police are nothing but revenue generators. Don't looks for REAL crime. That doesn't make any money for big brother.

If I didn't have so many roots and responsibilities, I'd be outta this state so quick the door would still be swinging after I settled in to my new place.

I'll get off my soap box now, but you can probably guess how I feel about this state.

Ed

I feel your pain - I live in northern Nevada (in Minden) about 10 miles south of Carson City and 20 miles from the CA border. Although I have never been a resident of CA nor would I ever be, being so close to the border I still have to pay attention to how they treat out of state classic cars.

Nevada only requires a license plate on the rear of the car, but I learned a long time ago to keep the 2nd plate in the trunk.  More than one person driving a classic ride from Nevada has been stopped by CHP for driving in their state with only one plate - and although I may be overly cautious, this is the reason I don't drive my '69 RS to any of the car shows in CA. 

Richard

[Kelley W King]

Hey guys, at least you do not have snow half the year.

[BULLITT65]

I would check with the DMV website, as Ed said, but I would tend to agree with Fred. Some of what is enforced will depend on which DMV employee you get and how well versed he is, in his role. I recommend to make an appointment each time, less BS this way. The DMV is hit or miss. it has taken years (decades?) for me to read between the lines to get things done here.

[69Z28-RS]

To answer the OP's questions (or try to):

1)  Yes 1969 Camaros DID leave the factory with an emissions sticker

This link    http://www.camaros.org/emissions.shtml     will answer your question re smog pumps (depends on the engine and transmission combination!)..

2)Yes, 1969 Camaros did come with an emissions sticker placed on top of the radiator support..
EG.  https://www.rickscamaros.com/camaro-exhaust-emissions-decal-396-325-350hp-1969.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=1o1&scid=scplp33-181047-1&sc_intid=33-181047-1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzKnjBRDPARIsAKxfTRCkN8m5QePEbbprNYAOojiclvEGkain-Y8y3FMeAA8rAXwNG4jXQIsaAoxEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[sixt9x33rs]

I feel for you guys that live in CA. My wife and I like to visit such a pretty state but man what a pita to have to live there.
Here in NC, I run whatever license plate looks good with the color of my car. I.e. I run a black CA tag on my Gold 69 RS Z and a black CA tag on my Maroon 67 Vette. I keep the antique tag in the car at all times. Cops have been behind me and don't do a thing other than give me a thumbs up when they pass me. I admit I live in Nascar/Car country in Charlotte. The nascar teams are based 20 miles north in Concord. So the car culture here alive and well.

[BULLITT65]

Well you pay a "stupid tax", just to live in nice weather. The "stupid tax", also involves the political climate here and all the wacko policies, including the DMV. I grew up in Northern California ( in Southern California now), I was just to much of a wus, to deal with the mid west winters, and then road construction summers. In Indiana the temp would drop in October from mid 70's or 80's down to mid 30's by halloween in just a matter of a couple of days. Then single digits by Christmas, and not (consistently) warm up until about April or May. That 6 month winter was a killer for me.
I still run the black plates o some of my cars, but only my white Camaro is registered, the rest are on non-op registration, because the price is ridiculous. $136 this year. But I drive the others, just not as often as the white 69. My other vehicles are registered in Washington state, they have a one time registration for collector vehicles. so you pay 1 time and never have to register them again. (vehicles over 25 years old).

[X33RS]

We have relatives that live in California.  While I have never lived in California, we have bought a few cars from there to bring back home.  Last time I did that was probably late 90's, and every car we would buy, even though it was leaving the state, had to be smog certified and pass an emissions test before I could purchase it.  Didn't matter I was taking the car out of state.   Really stupid stuff over there and even though I hated the idea the cars thankfully passed and I was outta there asap.  Just a revenue scheme.    I believe they finally wised up and that process is no longer necessary for the older cars, but that state has many other more serious problems as Bert eluded to.  I really don't care to even go over there and spend money anymore.   Then there was the DMV process....AAAAA!!  Ever been through a DMV in California?  One time of that and you'll realize how good other states have it, lol.

[X33RS]

Well you pay a "stupid tax", just to live in nice weather. The "stupid tax", also involves the political climate here and all the wacko policies, including the DMV. I grew up in Northern California ( in Southern California now), I was just to much of a wus, to deal with the mid west winters, and then road construction summers. In Indiana the temp would drop in October from mid 70's or 80's down to mid 30's by halloween in just a matter of a couple of days. Then single digits by Christmas, and not (consistently) warm up until about April or May. That 6 month winter was a killer for me.
I still run the black plates o some of my cars, but only my white Camaro is registered, the rest are on non-op registration, because the price is ridiculous. $136 this year. But I drive the others, just not as often as the white 69. My other vehicles are registered in Washington state, they have a one time registration for collector vehicles. so you pay 1 time and never have to register them again. (vehicles over 25 years old).

I hear ya on the winters.  Cinci originally, can't take that stuff anymore.  have no interest even going East visiting anything unless it's mid July there, lol.

Here in AZ we technically can't register cars out of state and actually live and drive them in AZ.  Least not supposed to but I know people who do, and people who register them out of Maricopa County so they don't have to be smogged.    I believe the law here is that you have 3 months to register your car in AZ after you become a resident.  I would imagine other states have similar policies, I just don't know if the police actually "police" it.  We have sun bunnies that are part time residents here that come down from Canada, Wisconsin, Idaho, North Dakota, and all those other really cold states, and spend their time here in AZ during the winter, and leave in the summer.  They don't bother registering their cars, stay for 6 months, then leave.  So I guess that law doesn't mean much.
  Then there are those registering out of state to avoid the high license plate fees.  You're taxed on the value of the car every year so if you drive around a $60k car you're paying $1500 or more for a license plate.  That's one of the reasons we decided to just drive classic cars and sold all the new stuff.

[Vince]

I am California born and still reside here, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  Every so often I try to get the courage up to move to the Reno-Sparks area in Nevada, as I am getting sick of this state too.  Living where I do in California I feel much closer to the state of Nevada than the Valley, Bay Area, or Southern California.  I wanted to give my experience of buying a car out of state and bringing it into California.  I bought my 1967 RS SS back in Aug. of 2016 from a dealership in Illinois and had it shipped here.  The owner lived in Missouri.  I received the car with the pink slip and current registration from the owner in Missouri and had a temporary Illinois driving permit in the rear window; no license plates of any kind. 
When I took it into my local DMV they said that they had to verify the hidden VIN's on the car with the VIN tag.  I didn't have to go to any smog cert station, and DMV mentioned nothing at all about any emissions items having to be in place.  The car came with original engine with all smog equipment in place, original trans, and original rear end.  The DMV representative couldn't read the hidden VIN's and said that I had to take my car to CHP (California Highway Patrol) to have the VIN's checked out before they could register it.  The guy at CHP was very helpful and verified the hidden VIN under the cowl on passenger side matched the VIN tag and that the VIN on the engine pad in  front of passenger side valve cover matched too.  I had checked these myself before hand and knew there should be no problem.  The CHP officer gave me their verification form; I took it to DMV and they registered my car in California.  This whole process I should add took 2 months.  I wasn't too  worried about driving my car though as I did have the temp operating permit from Illinois if I was pulled over by law enforcement. 

[X33RS]

Interesting Vince.   Arizona has been all over the map when it comes to that.  When I moved out here from Ohio we had to go through the vin verification process and take each car to the DMV.  Had 12 cars at that time so it was painstaking. 

Now they don't do that anymore.  The last couple cars I bought out of state I just walk into the DMV, fully expecting to go through the vin verification process, only to have the title issued, pay the fees, and I'm on my way, they don't even look at the car now.

It's the dormant cars that have become an issue lately.  Re-registering cars I haven't had plates on in over 10 years was a new experience.  I found that they were purged from the system and didn't exist anymore.  I had to pay a fee to recreate the car, which took a couple of days for them to first do a title search on and make sure it wasn't stolen or didn't have leans on it, then return to the DMV to issue a new title and tags.  Yet they still didn't want to see the car in that case either.

Strange sometimes.