Ms. SWAN Passed her Smog Test!

Barely squeaked by the 25MPH test with 83ppm HC, vs a max allowed of 83ppm.

The 15MPH test passed with 111ppm vs 130ppm max allowed.

NOx went from 674ppm to 536ppm at 15MPH, and from 569ppm to 459ppm at 25MPH.

Then I drove her down to AAA, filled out and signed the "open" title, coughed up $285, and drove out of there with a valid "temporary" registration card.

The permanent registration card and title should follow in "5 to 9 business days" according to the rep at the AAA.

And then in April, when the tags expire, I get to cough up another $200 or so (based on last registration), but I should be OK with the smog test until 2016.

One thing I immediately noticed as I drove to the smog place this afternoon was how much smoother she ran, so changing the plugs and "fixing" the air leak at the throttle body definitely helped.

AFAIK, she has the original, 29 year old, 167,000 mile, catalytic converter on her, so I'll look into getting a replacement to have "in stock" for when she has to get smog tested again.

But as of today, she's **OFFICIALLY** mine!