As lovers of single-digit-thousand-dollar cars and residents of states with emissions controls, we often find ourselves sighing in disappointment to learn that a certain Wagoneer, Monza, BMW Coupe or Cutlass is from 1976 or later. At least here in the Golden State, all post-’75 cars are required to pass a smog test (though oddly, no safety inspection). While keeping a motor in a state of tune that’ll pass late-70s tailpipe emissions isn’t that hard, the visual inspection for the original engine with original super-crappy emissions controls severely limits or complicates what can legally be done with cars of the era.
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would go through the effort to get a newer, say LS3-based, crate motor cleared by The Authorities? Oh, wait: GM Performance Parts did.

It’s worth taking a second to recognize that the obvious optimal solution would be loosening of emissions regulations. Based entirely on conjecture, 1976 to say…1990 vehicles comprise a small portion of the automotive population and given that they generally drive few miles per year, their impact on overall air quality is likely small. That said, as a resident of Los Angeles, I’m leery of a total-free for all as I’d like to be able to go for a run in the summer without choking to death. As a middle ground, I’d recommend reinstating a rolling exemption or just requiring older vehicles to pass the sniffer, regardless of what’s at the other end. Alas, political processes make my brain (and soul) hurt, so for time being we’ll back away from the political rabbit hole.

Luckily, within all of this emissions-controlling hoopla, the California Air Resources Board (ironically, “CARB”) has a loophole allowing for the swappage of any motor that’s of the same year or newer than the car (yay!), provided the motor retains it’s original emissions equipment (boo!). The tricky part here is it limits swaps to junkyard/recycler motors where the source car can be identified and emissions equipment transferred over. This complicates the whole process, particularly compared to the preferable purchase of a new crate motor from Summit, Jegs or the like.
Here’s where GM Performance Parts saved the day. They put together a 6.2L LS3 based ready-to-run crate motor kit complete with enigne management and wiring harness, then jumped through the necessary hoops to get it approved by CARB for 1976-1995 vehicles (pre-OBDII, arguably the range most in need of a swap), even though it’s not actually from any other vehicle. This means you can drop an all-aluminum 430hp electronically controlled, fuel injected motor into any car you want. Are there drawbacks? Sure. For one, you have to run the pre-set tune and included catalytic converters to maintain smog legality. Second, and worst of all, is the price: roughly $8,500.
There’s obviously room for debate around the idea of dropping what’ll be realistically $10 grand worth of engine into just about any car likely worth less than the motor itself. That said, an honest, reliable, tunable, reasonably efficient 430hp is a whole different world than the “I can build a 350 that’ll do that for 1000 bucks!” comments likely to appear. Obviously, there’s no reason to spring for the E-Rod if you’re not building an emissions-controlled car, but if you think about it as the center of a $15,000-30,000 custom build like MotoIQ’s 3rd Gen (FD) RX-7, it starts to make more sense.

Also, for those wanting to go either Mama-bear or Papa-bear on the Goldilocks LS3, GMPP is working on expanding the E-Rod line to include 5.3L, 7.0L LS7 and the blown LSA 6.2L motors as well. From what we can tell, they’re not yet available, though.
Not really Hooniverse Asks-worthy, but what’s your take?
Worth it? Too much money? (Those aren’t mutually exclusive). Just buy an ’05 GTO? Stop swapping GM motors where they don’t belong? Most significant aftermarket breakthrough in years?
Sources:
Jegs, Summit, MotoIQ and GM Performance Parts