Smogging 82 Subaru GL
 

Alright. So I have a few questions. The first aren't technical but the last one is.
I am looking at getting a 82 Subie GL. The guy I am buying it from doesn't know if it will pass smog or not. My question is, what is the process of getting it smogged? Is it just a tail pipe sniffer test? If so, if it doesn't pass, what would I have to do to make it pass? Possibly a new or another cat?

Any help is appreciated.

A lot of things can cause a car not to pass smog, could be as simple as needing a tune-up or as expensive as an engine re-build.

Have you test driven the car? If so, how does it run?

I am going to go and check it out tomorrow. From what the guy says though, is it drives really well.

Pre obd-ii smog is an inspection plus a tail pipe test. I don't think the sniffer is all that hard to pass since my svx passed w/o a hitch every year when it had blown out cats. As long as it's running correctly it'll probably pass.

If it's not burning oil, odds are pretty good that you can make it run well enough to pass smog with just filters, plugs and possibly rejetting the carb (assuming it's not injected). If the price is right and it runs strong, I would not pass over smog, though I would expect the previous owner to take care of it. I'm not sure if it's a requirement here before the sale like it is in California.

Tell him to take it to get smogged. If it passes you pay for it, if it doesn't then he pays for it and you save yourself a lot of hassle. Either way its only $20.

This. It has to pass a visual inspection, having all of the original smog equipment in place and operating properly, and well as a 2-speed tailpipe test, and a visual smoke test (can't be smoking out of the tailpipe or the engine compartment). As far as the tailpipe "sniffer" test, it's not just testing for unburnt fuel. HC (hydrocarbons, or unburnt fuel) can fail you, but so can CO (carbon monoxide) and NOx (oxides of nitrogen).