[Anchorman]

I've been putting off the visit to the NJ Inspection facility, figuring I'd certainly fail with the airbag fault. However, since the interface for the "mini-Hammer" hasn't arrived, and I have to be inspected by the end of April, I decided it was time to bite the bullet, get my red sticker, and then deal with it. Well, that was the result - but NOT for the airbag fault. It turns out that they didn't care about that. What they did care about was the condition of my rear window - FAIL - and excess NOx - FAIL. I also received an "advisory" warning because one of the two rear license plate bulbs is out. I really don't want to replace to top right now, so I'm going to see if a local place that buffs plastic headlight housings can buff my rear window. They've never done a convertible window but, at this point, I feel that I've got little to lose. The NOx was a surprise, and I guess that'll mean a visit to my OPC, as I don't believe RSBarn has any emission equipment. Not a happy day...



...although the place that I'll use for the buffing is a audio and sound shop that, in 5 minutes, cured my problem of no AM reception since I installed my new Alpine last August. Turns out that there's a power wire for the antenna that needed to be connected.



So, you win some and you lose some - but, so far today, the "loss" column is much bigger than the "win".

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[chris]

What happened? Window was too foggy?

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[RPM]

Sorry to hear. The emissions is strange as these cars run quite lean.



A teenager at a NC inspection station once failed my 944S2 when one of the two license plate bulbs was out. I pointed out that the plate was still illuminated...



On a positive note, a new law in NC exempts pre-96 cars from emissions checks! They do a visual to check that you still have a catalytic, a safety inspection, and off you go!

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[Anchorman]

Yes, the window was considered too foggy - I was told that it must be "clear". Subjective, but I'm not winning that battle.



As for the emissions - maybe I should move to NC. That's where my car lived before I purchased it.

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[Ceenit]

I was surprised also by the lack of an emmissions check in NC. I actually liked that info just to see how well the fuel was burning.



Anchor, seems like the easy fix would be to put the top down, and go to another inspection station. I'd be very suprised if they made you raise the top to inspect the rear glass (plastic).



As for the emmissions, some of the simple fixes are to 1) put in fresh oil (a little thicker weight), 2)run super premium through, and 3) take the car out on the highway for a good run prior to inspection (higher RPM's) to help clean out the internals.



Have you been getting any 02 sensor errors? That could be another easy remedy.

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[Anchorman]

SURPRISE (to me and you). I entered the inspection station line with the top down, boot on, and they made me raise the top.



The car's been running very well, the engine gets regular exercise (up to 6krpm), so I'm puzzled. No faults that I know of (other than the blasted airbag, which was not a problem. Go figure.)

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[Ceenit]

<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Wow, I am surprised. Wonder if they had issues lately and are now more 'by the book' on everything.



I had a similar issue with an old Jeep several years back. I think the inspector thought I was doing a 'secret check' on how they performed. He checked and gave me crap on stuff that I've never been asked about (side window tint, hight of a lift kit, speed of my blinkers <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> .



Good luck and keep us posed on the remedies.

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[happysails2you]

<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Sorry to hear about your travails, Anchorman! Ouch. A suggestion for your foggy window: my uncle swears by a 3M product he used to clear up his badly fogged Miata plastic window. He said it requires high speed buffing, but it worked and made the window reasonably see-through. I purchased the cleaner and polish from the 3M website last year, but ended up replacing the top so i never used them. I'll happily give you both:



3M Car Care Plastic Cleaner (removes fine scratches, stains, or haziness) and

3M Car Care Plastic Polish (cleans, polishes, and restores optical clarity)



If you'll be in Hershey on Friday and can wait til then, they're yours. Or I can mail them to ya.



I also have my old top, so if you want to use it to test them, I can bring it with me...just BYOOD (bring your own orbital device).



Anybody want an original navy blue top (both parts, with window, no inner liner)? It has a 2" clean tear on the top passenger side, fogged window, and bleached out stitching (like everyone's), but "other than that"... Not sure why I kept it, but thought it might come in handy for something. a plastic cleaner fog test might be its next purpose in life.

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[Anchorman]

Happy, I'm certainly willing to accept the window section of your old top if you have no other use for it. Having a window to experiment with could improve the odds of getting mine fixed sufficiently to avoid replacing the top (at least, for this inspection exercise). I've tried the Novus and Meguar products with almost no noticeable results. Something stronger is going to be needed - and maybe the 3M products fit that requirement. I'll see if I can bring my battery-powered orbital device to do a test while we're gathered in Hershey. See you Friday.

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[happysails2you]

Anchor, I just put the 3M products and my old top/window in the pile to bring with me to Hershey for ya. I will be curious to see if these products work as advertised. Would be fun to try any other products people bring along for testing and maybe some that might be for sale by vendors there. See ya and your BPOD on Friday! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Anchorman]

EXCELLENT - I'll charge up my batteries.

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[Stephenwz968]

Anchor,



I live in Hopewell (near Lawrence) and know you are frequent the area. I detail on the side and have a rotary buffer and the products to clear your window up a bit. If you're interested in stopping by let me know.



Steve

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[Anchorman]

Wow, what a great offer. How can I say anything but an enthusiastic "I'm interested"! Thanks. Please send me a PM and we'll work something out. Hopewell is right around the corner (but I don't know the corners very well).

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[Anchorman]

Steve applied his detailing expertise this evening, and definitely improved the transparency of the window. However, I don't think it is good enough yet to pass inspection, given that I'm starting from the "fail" position. So, more to be tried, and done.

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[glenncal1]

Always before an emmissions test, drive the car for a good 20-30 minutes. You want the engine up to operating temp and well heat soaked. Might also be time to change the O2 sensor.

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[Anchorman]

Agreed. But, in this case, the car had been running for nearly two of the previous two-and-a-half hours, so it was more than adequately warm. I think the O2 sensor has never been changed, so that might be a next step.

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[968rz]

While your waiting in line (especially if its long) keep the RPMs at a steady 2k, that keeps the converter and O2 warm and working at peak. DO NOT goose the throttle that just loads the converter with fuel.

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[Apex Rex]

Slightly off-topic, but it is hilarious to watch the NJ DMV Inspection Station workers attempt to find someone who can fit into a 16" Kirkey seat. It was almost worth it to fail inspection just to watch 6 guys attempt to figure out how to even get in the car.



Now to get my third brake light working and strip the tint off the drivers side window.

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[Anchorman]

An update - with a "new" (from a 50k car) catalytic converter, and new license plate bulbs (unbelievable how difficult these little suckers are to replace), the car was reinspected and failed only for the rear (plastic) window. I did the reinspection to make sure the emissions issue was history. Tomorrow night, the car gets dropped off at a shop for a new top, then sometime next week it will be moved from there to the body/paint shop for its new paint job. When that's done, and I'm back from vacation, there'll be one more trip to NJ inspection for a PASS.

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[rustech]

Why not paint before doing the top so that the paint travels under the canvas rather than stopping at the canvas?

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