You are probably correct, since the stories of draconian obsessiveness I have heard about Cali (one even on this site a while ago) is when you get nailed on either a pull over, or a spot check (IF they still have these in Cali??) by a local LEO, or worse yet, a CHP who suspects something is not legal about your ride, and then sends you to an official STATE mandated inspection center, where they check the minutiae in a Gestapo-like manner.
San Gabriel Valley used to be notorious for pull over hood lifts. They even instructed the cops in some towns as to what a SR20 looked like. For the most part if you were not obnoxious you were safe. Exhaust tickets were the bummer though. If your exhaust was too loud you would get a ticket. At first you just went to the CHP and they just came out saw your car idling and wrote it off. Then they got the idea to send you to the referee. That's when shit got ugly. I went through that. Actually had an idiot that was a ref at LA trade tech try to tell me it was federally illegal to swap an engine period . Lol
Truth is the CA law is same year or newer engine that was sold in a NA market vehicle provided you swapped in the proper smog equipment. Federal law is actually a bit more liberal.
(Funny thing about that is I have seen few LSx swaps that would actually pass referees.)
The idiots wanted to put the car on dyno to check the loudness like the exhaust would be louder under load vs being revved up in nuetral standing still lol.
As far as rolling smog checks those still happen in some places randomly . Usually where they know a lot of street racing is going on.
If it was me....I'd just register my Car in Mn...come hangout for a couple weeks when it's not -20 outside....go back and tell each one of those no talent cock wombles to eat a bowl of phallus's when I get pulled over and point at my plates Being from Mn....Bam problem solved! Now if it were only that easy......why do people and laws always get in the way of creative thinker rounder kinda guys? FML..
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Problem with this is California Law requires a person to register their car in Claifornia if they take up residence here and they have ten days after taking up residence to to do this. So while youmight skate for a minute eventually they will pull you over ask to see your license , if it's got a Cali address then you would get a ticket that gets written off once you get proof of California registration. Or if you had out of state license they would ask how long you are visiting for take note and inform you. If you get pulled over for the same thing again by the same agency it's ticket time.
By the way the Jeremy Piven gif/meme is great. Lol