Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

...I put a valid plate on the T-Bird. Insurance went on today too. Now, if the rain ever stops, I'll be able to drive it to the glass shop and have them re-glue the windshield. The factory glue has let go of the glass around most of the perimiter, so it'll have to be removed and reinstalled. Then it's safety inspection time (good for two years now!)

Anyway, driving impressions on the car should be coming this week :ies::ies:

Should be quite an eye opener. I haven't driven it since October 2007, and since then I've completely changed the suspension and driveline: T5 swap (still sporting the SO engine for now), CHE arms, Bullitt springs, SFC's, 3.55 TC disc brake rear, 11" fronts, etc. The only problem is it'll have been so long since I drove it stock I won't really be able to baseline it.

*RANT BELOW*

On a related note, I was reminded why the DMV is the subject of so many jokes. When I went to get the plate I had intended on putting the old plate from my truck on it, which is normal procedure for Nova Scotia. I also wanted to get a 10-day exemption for the safety inspection - this exemption is to allow a car to be driven legally until it can be safetied. I've gotten many of them before, for several vehicles.

So I went into the DMV, which is an hour's drive away. I waited there for two hours, and finally got to see a teller. She started doing up the plate transfer and I asked her about the 10-day exemption. She replied that they only do that for new plates. I said "So give me a new plate then, I'll pay the extra $10". She said "Sorry, I can't, you've already admitted you still have the old plate". I then asked how I was supposed to get the vehicle inspected if it's illegal to drive it to the inspection station. She basically said that I was to drive the car illegally, there was no other way other than having it towed around. I asked her if she'd sign something to the effect that I tried to do things legally but she prevented me doing so, just in case I got pulled over by the mounties on the way to the safety inspection place, but of course she wouldn't sign anything.

What she failed to mention is that there is an "in transit" permit available that is good for a certain period (basically a one-way, one-shot-only deal that is only valid for a certain hour of a certain day) but I'd have to make an appointment for a safety, drive back into the DMV, get this permit, drive back home, get the car, and drive it to the garage for the safety check. This simply isn't going to happen.

What this boils down to is that my first drive of the car is going to be an illegal one, even though I tried to do it legally. It's plated, it's insured, but the DMV is being, well, the DMV. My options are: spend an entire day and $50 worth of gas to get an $11 in-transit permit; spend $300 on a tow truck for a perfectly drivable car (it would have to be towed twice, once to the glass place and then again to the garage), or risk a $150 fine for driving with no safety sticker. The chances of getting pulled over are remote (police rarely travel these old roads) but it still  me off that I tried to do it legally and they won't let me over some stupid red tape....

Wow. What a PITA. At the same time....alls well that ends well registering cars lol :hick:. Awesome news.
 
I know it wont paint me as the most honest individual out there but that's my path when that  happens. I woulda done that without even skipping a beat. I woulda bitched out DMV for sure still...but assuming the inspection station wasnt more than 5-10 miles away I'd gladly just drive the thing there. My '38 Buick will be back on the road soon, but being insured in my moms name, she has to go with me, so its been waiting for her schedule. Meanwhile I had to partially rebuild the front end, so...yeah I took it around the neighborhood and even onto the main road for about a minute on a Sunday morning...yes uninsured and unregged but those are major components...Im not risking a blow-up when its actually going to get used this summer. I like cars that can stop and steer.
 
Granted that's not an example of red tape BS but that's definitely how I'd deal with it. In that car anyway the police around here would understand, if I was honest about my intentions, which I would be.

I would take the risk and drive it illegally, then if you do get pulled over just let the mountie know. It's worth a shot.

You mean you don't know a dude to pass it without taking it there. ;)

Those are the best drives:burnout:



......:mullet: Thats wrong Jerry and should not be done:evilgrin:

Well, he's thinking about driving it illegally. LOL

150 ticket is cheaper than a 300 dollar tow truck!!!

down here if you make an appointment with an inspection station you may drive there without/bad stickers to get it inspected, to only one and once(dont belive they wont call and check, they will). getting back home if you fail requires a tow truck, and AAA wont tow a vehical with bad/no stickers(which is why i dont use them:flip:) so hope the station has one. that is if you care about that stuff i mean... i dont, or atleast i didnt untill they upped the price of a bad I/E sticker ticket around here by double(around $250 now)

as for the bass-ackwards method of how those states where you must get something inspected in order to even get it registered, i feel for you guys:toilet:

I need it insured, inspected, proof of PP taxes paid, my ID, and then I can go get a car titled and tagged.

Usually I just set aside a whole day for it all. DMV by me is small and usually very quick. Can say the same for the office you have to get a copy of PP taxes from. They want you out before your in the door. Tried our last name in the computer once and told us it wasnt in there ans we needed to drive back home and find it. First off, our last name is two words, but one name, and is always getting destroyed. Second, if we could find it at home why would we be trying to get a copy due to the fact it is LOST.

You need a connection by you.

What is this inspection you speak of? In Illinois we buy a car, get plates and a city sticker, and drive it all we want. :D

Probably like ours. It has to be safety inspected.
 brakes, lights, exhaust, front end, seat belts, no cracked glass etc.

ours is every year. makes my project even more fun. LOL

In ontario we only have to get a car safety inspected upon transfer of ownership. And emissions test every 2 yeas on newer cars. old cars like my cougars are exempt from that too :D

Illinois a big city now? ;)

On a more serious note, I think 20 year old, "hoby" cars...exactly like ours, should be more exempt from inspections and the like. I mean..it's not like there's 10,000 1988 Thunderbirds on the road, all with big engines being hammered around by a kid...

Then again..we ARE the minority here.

The best idea yet is the poster who says his state, county, etc aloows you the one time, one way drive to get your car inspected, and if it fails..well...

Myself, if I have insurance on it, and the title or pink paper, and am planning to drive it to the inspection place, I just drive it and not worry. As long as you don't have a 'tude in the unblikely event you are stopped, and have all the other paperwork in order (taxes, insurance, ownership papers of vehicle) they will almost always let you go on your way.

True.





I have to disagree on that. The difference between our old cars and others old cars is we car about ours and they just hope it doesnt break. Well so do I so I dont get taken out because they neglected to maintain their vehicle and now ruined mine. As much as I hate the BS, I like the little piece of mind that there is atleast one less car not fit to be on the road, off the road. Then again Im sure some people hate the fact my car doesnt have to be beat to shiznit on the rollers for them to "test" it and get my emissions results knowing I am polluting the air and getting away with it.

I registered my 88 historic last year. In Maryland that means no inspections, including emissions test, ever. Period. And the insurance is cheaper.:D

There is no historic plates in utah. A car from 1967 on has to pass both safety and emissions. Which means no 460 ever. It also meas, it is illegal to modify exhaust from stock, or to put any parts on the motor that were not originally intended for that car. Supposedly it is illegal to put a 302 in a v-6 car, even though the v-8 was available. As a matter of fact, I once got failed on emissions, because they said my exhaust didn't look like it should according to there computers. They typed in 88 cougar, not 86. I guess in 88 a fake duel was on every v8.

What I think is really funny, is if you have a 94 up car, you aren't required to do an inspection or saftey every year. My wife's neon passed saftey with less then 1/32 of an inch of brake pad left. There is a guy I used to know that had a 460 in a 99ish mustang. He passed emissions by putting a dummy obd2 computer in it. He said he got it off ebay for $40. WTF. I can't wait till the smog pumps on our cars can't be bought from autozone and we have to buy everything used of off late model restoration.

I paid $500 or so trying to get my car to pass emissions. I went to the DMV and told them I have a 20 year old car and can't pass emissions. They told me to go to the state department of transportation to get it inspected. They told me my car doesn't qualify for it because I didn't have every vacuum line routed the way its showed on there records. But the guy with the 460 in the 90's mustang can pass with no problems because he has OBD2. Maybe I'll just throw a dummy computer in my car and go carbed.

Ever gone to one of those places, where no one knows anything about cars and just plugs the computer in to test your car? I got told my car could not be tested because they didn't have a plug for it.

Cars registered as "Antique Auto" in Nova Scotia don't need inspections either, and the plates and insurance are much cheaper as well, but unfortunately the car has to be 30 years old to qualify for the plates.

Haysdtack: Reading that makes me WAY glad that we don't have that emissions bullshiznit here...