Looking at 1976 Bronco California Vehicle NEED HELP

[harleyguy1]

hi Im looking at buy a clean 1976 bronco. Original 302 engine. My friend is asking 6500. Only thing I found was that the floor pans need to be done. I was wondering if this is a fair price and also what kind of problems Im I going to have to smog this in California. If their is a way around this any advice would be great.

 

[KevinT70]

Assuming the rust is limited ONLY to the floor pans and the Bronco is clean, $6500 sounds likes a very good price for the urban Ca market and probably rural as well. Pics will help of course and you should get lots of opinions.

Legal way to smog it is to get the year correct Ca emissions equipment, install it, and ensure its all working. Alternative is to buy a pre 76 frame and title with VIN tag. I'm sure some on this board have gone this route and can give you more detail on this or you can search this topic.

I live in Ca and wouldn't touch a 76 or 77 just for the DMV/smog hassle factor!

 

[Oakland Bronco]

I live in Ca and wouldn't touch a 76 or 77 just for the DMV/smog hassle factor!

^^ What he said. At one point during my search, I was considering a sweet 1977 owned by a forum member. But decided on a 1973 so I could avoid the smog issue altogether.

 

[spap]

You can run the Vin and the lic through the DMV web site and it will tell you the history of registration and smog. if it has passed smog recently and the motor and exhaust have not been touched it might be OK .. but usually everyone took off the air pump and removed the cat. No real way around CA smog anymore you could run a fuel injected motor with cats and that would help. But then the cost just went way up. Don't believe the story off when someone says I can have a friend who can get it to pass smog

 

[miikee73]

Sometimes it's a deal breaker,but the seller is reponsable for the smog cert.I lived in SoCal most of my life and smog exempt years are the only ones I'd look at.
I don't know if it has changed but it didn't matter the cost of parts to complete the smog system.There was a price cap of about $500. getting the complete system to pass the test. A lot could of changed in the last 6 years since I left California. But when I was looking for a Bronco here in Oregon I didn't look at anything that needed smog checks,76-77/

 

[blubuckaroo]

If all the emission equipment is there, I'd do it. The emission requirements for these older cars isn't that strict. I've seen some pretty stinky cars pass as long as the equipment is in place and working. Sure a modified motor will perform better but I've found the true secret to 302 performance is proper gearing.

 

[904Bronco]

No real way around CA smog anymore you could run a fuel injected motor with cats and that would help. But then the cost just went way up. Don't believe the story off when someone says I can have a friend who can get it to pass smog

The fines to sneak a vehicle through smog are too high today for shops to take a chance of getting caught.

It is not that easy to convert a 76-77 to EFI and get it smog legal in CA. I did it in my 77 and there is a lot you need to have from the donor car. Try all the smog functioning, all 4 CATs if it came from a Mustang, ECM that matches the tranny, closed air filter, No stored codes, fuel tanks that meet CA emissions (a letter from the manufacturer works) and an agreeable Smog Referee. I made three trips to the Ref before I got my cert. And you cannot argue your point, they have God like powers when they read out of the book. Others have posted different experiences in the state when visiting the Smog Ref... I guess mine was kind of a tight ass

 

[Alpacket]

I've got the complete smog pump system off a 76, if you're interested.

 

[WARDOG]

Harley-
Welcome aboard! I am fairly new to this forum as well.
First off, you didn't say whether or not this Bronco is IN California.
If it is out of state, in a non-smog required state, then you may be missing a lot of the smog equipment.
You can round up all of the equipment and do your best to get hooked back up. The only way a ref will even consider an exemption is if all of the year/veh. specific smog equipment is installed. They won't even consider an exemption unless everything is hooked up, and you have spent a certain amount in parts trying to get it to pass.
I live in Cali, and recently bought another Bronc. When I was searching I didn't even consider a Bronc that required smog. Too much of a pain in the arss because there have been too many years where the system could have been butchered.
I ended up buying a '69 from out of state.
When I went to register it at DMV, the first thing the lady asked was if it passed smog. SHe didn't even know the years of smog requirement.
I think in the long run you'll be happier buying a Bronc that has NO restrictions on it. When I am ready, I will be swapping my 302 with a 351W again (as I did in my previous '73). Great upgrade you can't do if it has to pass smog.
ALSO- As far as having the seller get it smogged before the sale (unless sold 'As-Is') you should be there when it is tested. I know of one horror story personally where 'Cooter' from 'Cooters Garage & Laundry Land' fudged the smog cert for his good ol boy. Two years later when it came time to get re-smogged, Cooter's smog license had been yanked by CARB and he was fined into the stone-age. It took a year for my buddy to round-up all of the smog equipment, install it and make 3 trips, 60 miles away, over a period of 6 months, to get it exempted by the ref.

 

[miikee73]

Harley-
Welcome aboard! I am fairly new to this forum as well.
First off, you didn't say whether or not this Bronco is IN California.
If it is out of state, in a non-smog required state, then you may be missing a lot of the smog equipment.
You can round up all of the equipment and do your best to get hooked back up. The only way a ref will even consider an exemption is if all of the year/veh. specific smog equipment is installed. They won't even consider an exemption unless everything is hooked up, and you have spent a certain amount in parts trying to get it to pass.
I live in Cali, and recently bought another Bronc. When I was searching I didn't even consider a Bronc that required smog. Too much of a pain in the arss because there have been too many years where the system could have been butchered.
I ended up buying a '69 from out of state.
When I went to register it at DMV, the first thing the lady asked was if it passed smog. SHe didn't even know the years of smog requirement.
I think in the long run you'll be happier buying a Bronc that has NO restrictions on it. When I am ready, I will be swapping my 302 with a 351W again (as I did in my previous '73). Great upgrade you can't do if it has to pass smog.
ALSO- As far as having the seller get it smogged before the sale (unless sold 'As-Is') you should be there when it is tested. I know of one horror story personally where 'Cooter' from 'Cooters Garage & Laundry Land' fudged the smog cert for his good ol boy. Two years later when it came time to get re-smogged, Cooter's smog license had been yanked by CARB and he was fined into the stone-age. It took a year for my buddy to round-up all of the smog equipment, install it and make 3 trips, 60 miles away, over a period of 6 months, to get it exempted by the ref.

Your right about Cooter,his kind are all but gone.I had a good friend with a licence and I respected him too much to even ask to fudge a test. Hell they have van mounted sniffers that can test you as you drive by,they like freeway on ramps because you'r accelerating.If you fail they take a pic of your plate and you get an invitation to go to a state ref . So if your smog guy just ran a decoy car through to get your cert and the ref finds your car illegal you lose a friend with a licence .

 

[Stroppe-Envy-77]

Is the vehicle currently registered in California, or has it been in recent years? If so, it's probably already smog compliant. You can run its license plate or VIN through the BAR's Vehicle Test History Database:

http://www.bar.ca.gov/pubwebquery/Vehicle/PubTstQry.aspx

As far as the "huge hassle" of getting a Bronco to pass, it's not, so long as the equipment is there.
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226374

As you can see from the results I posted, my '77 was far, far within allowable limits. Remember, the vehicle only needs to pass to the standards for the year it was built, nothing more.

Compared to lots of other things that older vehicles tend to need, spending an hour and $75 every two years hardly falls into the hassle category, IMO.