> if I sell this 85 Adventurewagon I have for sale to someone in
> California........
> I suppose they would automatically need the 'new standard' cat in Ca for it,
> to get through the van's first Ca smog check ?

Nah. The law only says you can't SELL a cheapie cat in CA. When you go
to the smog check station, all they really check is (1) if it's there,
and (2) if it works well enough for the vehicle to pass the test. Even
then, you could have a hollow cat shell and an extremely well tuned
engine and you might still pass. The problem the California Air
Resources Board has in implementing its vendetta against "old" cars is
that it can't retroactively tighten the smog standards on older
models. They'd love nothing better than to be able to declare all cars
more than 15 years old "illegal gross polluters" and make everyone buy
a $40K hybrid, but they can't. A 1978 car originally sold in Arizona
can only be held to the 1978 federal emissions standard. An 85 sold in
California can only be held to the  1985 California standard. Things
like this catalytic converter standard are just one of the dozens of
nasty little tricks they've come up with to make it harder to keep an
older car on the road.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Lastwagen"
'90 Vanagon GL - "Wiesel"