CA Smog

I want to know if I can put a small block V8 into my 94 Cherokee and run a carb instead of EFI in California? What would I need to do to get it smog legal if at all? My goal is to install the V8 with as little electrical as possible, no CPU, just old school style.

Thanks

In short, no. You can't smog that combo. First the engine has to be the age of the chassis or newer. There's a reason it's called Old School, carbs went out in the late 80's. FI is much more efficient and carbs don't like running at extreme angles. This essentially is a step backwards for a lot of work. With that said, guys have shoved FI Hemi's and LS series small blocks in them. Those make nice combos. Oh, rule of thumb I believe is same mfg of the engine, ie, chrysler engine. I know they shove hemi's into TJ's no reason you can't do that with an XJ.

Well, in thoery, dependin on the engien you install.. there are companies that make coversion kits, to take most of the electornics out of the loop. However, then you do not have as much tuning ability.
Only way you would technically be able to do it, is if you live in a county that only requires smog upon change of ownership. Is it legal? No. Can it be done, yes.
It will take a bit of green, but an LS motor swap would be awesome (=

Thanks for the info, I kinda assumed that it wouldn't work but wasn't sure what I could get away with.

Yes you can but not with a carbed motor. The motor must come from the same year or newer with more stringent smog reg's. So you have a 94, the motor must come from a 94 to 2010 vehicle. You can only go forward with an engine not back.

The engine needs to be "configured" the same, or newer than the year of the chassis. That means, for the OP, he could install an '88 SBC, as long as all sensors, ECM, etc, were the same as a '94.
Of course, this totally excludes a carburetor on any sort. Also, a strict interpretation of the CARB rules require the transmission to match the engine; IE: Chevy's never came with an AW4 trans, or, Chevy TPI engines were never attached to NV4500 5 spds, so these combinations would never be smog legal. The safest bet to get by CARB, is to install the complete engine/trans and ECM/PCM out of the donor vehicle, and insure the donor is the same year or newer than your '93. My CARB inspector actually scanned my ECM to insure the correct EPROM was installed. And of special interest to XJ's are exhaust manifolds. Frame to manifold clearance is a major problem with the XJs. Trying to drop a '93 or later truck SBC into an XJ will require extensive mods to the frame rails, or will require use of manifolds not CARB approved. So when deciding on what engine configuration to assemble, make sure the stock manifolds will fit between the frame rails, or be ready for major "slash and burn".

Thank God Illinois doesn't have that CARB bs!

Yet.

my buddy lives in sonora(twain harte actually). he only had to smog his cherokee when he bought it new in 1991. he only has to smog his cars when he buys them. he has bought alot of cars in the past ten years, only smogging them each when they are bought. move to sonora( or somewhere in the mountains) and youll be fine. i would imagine that his cherokee that he has never even tuned up once with 380K prob wouldnt pass smog or his saturn with 576K wouldnt either. that being said, having a car"registered" in sonora(technically twain harte where he lives), you would be able to smog it once and then rip that engine out. the day my jeep gets to hard to smog im going to register it at his place

Yikes. I would feel bad for you guys, but enough of you apparently voted for the idiots that made it into law...

Get a cheap apartment or something in another state and register the vehicle there? Probably not legal at all, unfortunately, so I'd suggest moving out of the people's republic.

California is "leading" the way, not sure about the term leading but they think they know everything up in Sacramento. I hate this state, but family keeps me here. Anyway, I am going to keep it simple and just slam another 4.0 in it for now. Unless I can scrounge enough cash for the stroker. Any recommendations on where to get a good short block stocker or stroker in SoCal? I need to keep it between $1000 and 2000 though.

Thanks