I want to do a motor swap for my car and want to make sure everything is legit.. what does the dmv require?

Question

what are the steps to get the car/engine "REFFED or "BARRED" to make it totally legit in ca

Answer 1

The motor being swapped into the vehicle needs to have been manufactured in the same year or newer. So if your car is a '95, you need to install a '95-present engine. You cannont swap in a '94 or older motor. This is for emissions reasons.

There are some loop-holes in the system, like block swapping but using the same emission system (throttle-body injectors/carb, ect). And may be able to use a slightly older motor with proof that the engines between a '95 and say a '93 (the 93 you want to swap in) are identical and that there was no emissions changes between the years.