PZEV legislative victory

[Mike Arman]

OK, so if the PZEV system is totally sealed, then how do you refuel the car?

I get it, they've finally figured out how to transfer the "ash trays are full, I need a new car" 
syndrome to a non-smoking customer base.

"Sorry, your sealed fuel tank is empty - not sold separately - you'll need to buy a new car, sir."



This may not be as dumb as it sounds. A few years back Hawaii was about to pass a law against 
two-piece automobile wheels (hub plus rim) because someone's custom wheel came apart and caused an 
accident. One of the legislators went out to the parking lot and dragged in the spare wheel from a 
stock Chebby police car - guess what, hub and rim, two pieces, riveted together. The bill died in 
committee.


In the UK, they have been seriously talking about making head bolts "tamper proof" so no one but a 
factory authorized service center can work on the engines. The manufacturers like the idea, it would 
give them guaranteed captive service. Independent shops and the few consumers who are aware of it 
hate it. The same idea surfaces from time to time across the channel in Euroland, where everything 
is forbidden anyway, simply as a matter of EU policy.


As far as tamper proof fasteners are concerned, don't say they are impossible. Most of them can be 
removed with varying degrees of difficulty, but I ran into some that absolutely stopped me cold. 
Made in the UK, they were on a museum exhibit which is currently here and I am doing some work on it.

The fastener head is dome shaped and hardened, so you can't cut a notch into it or get a grip on it 
with vice grips or other implements of destruction. There is no slot for a driver, but there are a 
row of shallow radial notches (with rounded edges) around the head which the special driver fits over.

After fighting ONE of these damn things unsuccessfully for almost an hour, and realizing there were 
about 100 more, some of them totally inaccessible, I hunted down the manufacturer on the net and 
convinced them to send me a driver. I've saved all of them, so if I need to build something that I 
absolutely do not want anyone to be able to get into short of C-4 or an RPG, I'm all set.

Beat Regards,

Mike Arman
90V8Q