just a quick question, pretty sure i will need it down the road sooner or later. say i just finished swapping another engine into my car, from whatever model, where do the legal stuff comes in? like do i have to immediately inform my insurance, dmv and get it smogged right away? or when? havent been able to find a post like that, or im not trying hard enough :D
hehehe help please

good question... I'm wondering that too.
One guy said that he told his insurance(State Farm) and htey left his rates alone.

Well do you want to be honest aout it or not is the question. Plus it depends on your state.

My insurance agent auto-x's and is very cool so he would look the other way on the swap. I would guess that if you didn't tell you insurance the only way they would find out is if you got in an accident and the came to look at your car and knew Subarus well enough to know it wasn't the stock motor.

As far as your registration goes it doesn't matter in Ohio until you have to get emmisions testing. Whether you would pass is another thing. We only have to get it every other year. When my sawp is done I am going to get it tested just so I know when it comes time if it will pass or not. If it doens't then I have time to figure something out.

If it's a USDM engine and newer than your car it's perfectly legal, even in California. If it's non US (or older than your car and US)then I'm pretty sure it is always illegal, don't tell anyone. I seriously doubt the insurance people will figure it out. Now if you want to get coverage for the cost of it, I don't know what you should do.

alright thanks, yea im in California, and if i get any newer USDM model engines i will be fine. thanks for the answer, helped alot.

kevin

If you put the USDMmotor and have it all wired to stock specs you have the option to get it CA state certified. The smog referee verifies the motoe, the O2 sensors and the OBDII conections and then smogs the vehicle. Once you pass, you get a sticker that your car is CA state LEGAL.

After this you can go to your INS with conversion reciepts in hand and ask to have your car PLUS it's LEGAL modifications insured.

It's much like putting in aftermarket stereo equipment. Insurance companies must know that it is in your car, the value of the equipment(receipts), and take pictures (some companies not all).

You will be paying more for your car insurance but not that much. It's like another 40 bucks a month depending on your driving record and age.

chris

but that 40 a month seems small but is $480 a year!! I'm going to be telling my insurance company though so I guess I'm going to be spending the extra 500 a year. Man that's a lot for a college kid like myself!!:(
Take it easy, Micah

My mom is an insurance agent so I'll say this, you can tell them, but it will cost you.

I would ask them off the record what then think and most of the time they'll not want to raise your rates because you might leave them because of it.

Also your rates may increase simple if you tell them you have aftermarket mods. Modding a car puts you into a different insurance group.

I think if you have mods then think you'll drive harder/faster, get into more crashes.

If they know, then they are obligated to put you into that catagory. I would get a lot of recepiets and take a lot of pictures so you can get you money back later.

My mom works for Farmers insurance so this might be different for other companies.

I'll give you a story that helps paint the picture a little bit better.

He has a 00' VW Passat and he decided to full gut it, ie only one seat, and mod the crap out of it. In's and outs, fmic and TO4 KKK turbo. So the smart guy crashes it, then the insurance adjuster asks my mom if she knew. BTW she did know because they're a family friend.

So my mom has to deny that knew, and could get into real trouble if she did know, lose her job or get her license revoked. That sort of thing. So it might be unwise to ask them officially but it's up to you.

In regards to your legality ask I-speed about that. They've done a bunch of swaps and know their stuff.

good luck with your swap.