hey fellas...I'll be moving to the Bay area sometime this summer so i figured i'd start looking to see how it is out there. it's been a while since we lived in cali (8 yrs) even though San Diego's our hometown.

i'm excited to drive my Evo out there but i have a few questions as far as smog & registration & what i should prep it for...currently it has all the basic bolt ons:

nisei intake
k&n cone filter
3port ebc
nisei (flat black) uicp
rexpeed o2/dp
t1r resonated tp
magnaflow catback
AMS fmic
E85 tune

that's about all i can think of right now...

it's got TX legal tint..which i'm sure isn't legal in CA.
I guess my question is, what do i need to take off or prep before i take it for a pre-registration smog inspection? from what i've researched the intake and the tp are one of them...any help would be great. I tried signing up at NorcalEvo forum but i dunno why it won't get activated.

here's a pic of my Evo. thanks in advance!

 

It all depends on what shop you go to and how picky they will be. You can have your tint as dark as you want on the rear passenger windows and back glass. You cannot have any tint on the front left and right windows although.

When you go in for a smog definitely swap your TP to a Cat and put a stock air box on. There's no AWD dynos in CA so they are just going to rev it and with E85 and a cat you'll pass with flying colors.

 

Hey dude, California is a ***** with smog.
Basically anything that isn't stock on the car and does not have a CARB# on it will disqualify your inspection. Aftermarket intake pipe with no CARB#, won't pass. They don't care if it's the cleanest running car on earth. I don't know where you are going to take it, or how smart the inspector is going to be but if I were you as painful it's going to be return the car to 100% stock. These bastards in CA look for ANY reason to give you a citation.
One more thing, if you don't have a front license plate mount on your car I would find a way to put a plate on the front. I personally have not been pulled over for it but during inspection you might get nabbed. Other than that, when you're done make sure you put all that aftermarket crap back on

 

FYI socal is stricter than norcal.
I agree with the advice to install a front plate, it was $100 last time I got one.

 

stock airbox and full stock exhaust just to be sure id also tape over or cover up injectors and make sure your tune is in good shape