[bigred90gt]

I live in Baytown, right outside of Houston, and I have never had a problem with emissions. I had an '86 F-150 with a 5.0 and it passed with flying colors. Last August when I got my stang inspected, it had two of the factory four cats on it and they were gutted, still passed no problem. They have tightened up since then, but I am not sure how much. As far as visual, maybe I've been lucky, but I have never had anyone crawl under my car to look for cats or anything else, but I did have one place tell me that they couldn't inspect it because of the check engine light. I guess it all depends where you go. Some are cool, some are not so cool. As far as the liscense plate, in the last 6 years that I have been driving, I have never had one in the front. I've been pulled over several times, and no one has said jack about it. Good luck with your move.

BTW - I realize you are in Cali and are used to the sun, but, beware of the EXTREME humidity. Make sure you have an excellent cooling system for your powerplant or you'll be smokin on the side of the road. Take it easy.
Caymon