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Smogging a 77 450sel in CA

Started by ohnoitsjamie, 09 February 2006, 02:33 PM

ohnoitsjamie

I could get a cheap deal on a 77 450sel. The car runs, but the throttle linkage can stick and it will sometimes idle at 1500 (this is the only info I've had from the owner so far.

The car has never been smogged in CA. I realize I haven't provided a lot of info to go on, but I'm wondering if there is a general consensus as to how easy it is for this particular car to pass CA smog. (It's the 4.5L v8, not the 6.9).

michaeld

Ohnoitsjamie,
Hey, that's my car!
I've got a 77 450 sel 4.5, and really enjoy it.  Someone else on the site was questioning whether to go 4.5 or 6.9.  I can honestly say that the 4.5 has all the power I want, and I don't have the headaches of a dry sump motor and fancy-schmancy hydrolics that are prone to being way-too-high maintenance.

I may have been fortunate, but my car sailed through smog w/ results about as low as they could be.  If I understand correctly, there are three versions of the 450 sel as far as smog: California, federal, and euro.  If your car is a euro, it is always possible that you may have problems w/ smog, as they didn't have any of the equipment (smog pump, catalytic converter, etc).  On the bright side, I have read that the 4.5 was a very well-made engine in general, and thus tended to run pretty clean.  Try to find out where the car was last registered, and ask if the owner has the smog results.  Ideally, he'll have the service records.

I happen to be a big fan of cheap.  But keep in mind that these were very expensive cars in their day (twice the price of a nicely equipped Cadillac), and there just weren't enough on the road to generate much in the way of aftermarket parts.  If you get an 'old and busted' specimen, you could be in store for a real pain in the pocketbook.  In that sense, 'cheap' can be expensive. 

Since these cars were among the most expensive production vehicles in the world new, you can bet your britches that they were pretty well maintained for the sake of the investment.  But after 28 years, the pride of ownership may have worn off; it might be best to walk away if it appears the owner slacked off on maintenance over the last few years.

Replacing throttle linkage shouldn't be too expensive, but try to find out if there are any other problems.    In particular the climate control system (which is not on the european cars) can be a real maintenance headache.

Sorry I can't tell you more.  Give a post reply if you get the car.  Good luck! 

teliks

I have a 77 450sel in the DC area. It's my daily driver and so far emissions have not been a problem here (granted we don't have the same regs as CA). I was wondering if there are any aftermarket Cat Converters anyone can recommend. I've looked online and most of the direct fit systems are a bit out of my budget for this. At some point i would love to replace the aging exhaust system with something stock, but for now I just need to replace it with something that works. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!