Red Pepper Racing

All cars model year 1976 and newer have to pass biennial smog checks here in California.  I had to replace my original cat because it hasn't worked since I bought the car as a gross polluter back in '08. At that time, there were no OEM cats available from Honda, there were no approved aftermarket cats, and it is illegal buy/sell/install a used cat.  To pass smog, I routed the vacuum lines correctly, left the non-working cat in place, put a new inline cat underneath the car, and passed smog easily.  This year for Star Smog Check, my car passed on all the measured emission values.  However, California Air Resources Board (CARB) now requires the station to read the numbers on the cat to make sure it is correct for the car. They found my extra cat, declared that my emission system had been tampered with, and failed me on the visual inspection.  

Thankfully, the parts makers have been catching up with CARB's demands for only using approved catalytic converters and one is available for my 1g.  I am happy that my car is now fully legally compliant and runs clean.  I am less than happy about the cost.  The alternative would have been to find my car a new out of state owner, so this was a commitment that I made to keep my car for a while.

GLHS988

Just curious why you had to replace the cat?