Catalytic converters

Ccas said

I'm not sure what you mean by 'exempt' but the EPA made it very clear to us that anything newer than 1974 requires a converter that is equal to our better than whatever was on the vehicle originally. I'm referring to the sale of any type of aftermarket catalytic defeat devices....which could be simply a downpipe that eliminates the cat.

And thanks for all the other information about california emissions. I'll be passing this along to the staff as we get a lot of calls on this subject from Californians.

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Exempt in California means you're not required to have a smog test performed to register your vehicle, even when the vehicle is bought/sold. And if you don't need to smog test for your registration, the only other way you'd need to have a smog test done is if you've been cited for being out of compliance (there are no yearly inspections here). But a 1975 vehicle is exempt from compliance, so, how would you be cited?

So I don't know what the EPA would do to enforce that law, or how someone would ever be in a position that the EPA would find out.

It may still be illegal to defeat or remove a catalytic converter on a 1975 vehicle if it came with one originally, but if you're not ever required to have a smog test or inspection on that vehicle, I don't know how anyone would find out.