Ok, this all depends.
Just take it to the test as you have it and see what they say. Most states are required to give you a specific printout of what you failed if you fail. I am not sure how they can fail that old of a car but it will come down to one of three things:
HC: Hydrocarbon or unburned fuel.
CO: Carbon Monoxide usually due to a bad catalytic converter (which our cars don't have) caused by a cool mixture.
NOX: Nitrous Oxides caused by too lean a mixture or high combustion chamber temps.
IF you fail HC, rejet the carb to run as lean as possible. Also you may want to adjust timing to get it in. Also, put three bottles of ISO-HEAT in a half-full or less tank. The Isopropyl alcohol will cause the chamber to run hotter and will not be detected as a HC. If you had a catalytic converter it would also cause it to run super-hot and solve any CO problems too.
IF you fail CO. Make sure the engine is super-hot. Like run it hard on the freeway right before testing. Of course some ISOHEAT will not hurt this either.
If you fail NOX (highly unlikely since we do not have EGR valves) you may be in trouble. High combustion temps cause this and it is hard to correct without an EGR. IF you do, you need to do the OPPOSITE of what I said above. You want the engine cool as possible and you may want to retard the timing and make it run badly to pass.
Lastly, find the smallest inspection shop you can find. One setup and run by a single guy. Tell him what you got and whether he would pass it or not. You may not have to have those wipers working after all. hint hint.
Randy
As it turns out... I did this over the weekend. I didn't do anything to it and took it in just to see where I stand. I passed CO and HC very well and was way over on NOX. Nice... :edgy:
Before the inspection I had jetted the carb for this altitude (based on chart from Holley manual). It is a 750cfm so slightly large for my 383 so I wanted to ensure it wasn't pumping too much gas. So I have gone back and put the bigger ones back in now.
The engine was also running very hot so I put a cooler t-stat in and now it runs right at the line where it should.
I have read that retarding the timing causes higher temps... and that advancing timing causes higher temps... so not sure exactly what to do there. I think there is much confusion between the temp of the burn and the temp of engine due to the effects of each of these. I'm still trying to determine exactly which is right for the temp of the burn and the resultant NOX emissions.
I was running 85 octane which does seem to be bad because I do hear pinging when I get into it... so adding octane boost and will only put higher octane in from now on.
Now that I have done all this, I am going to give it another try to see where I stand. I think adding fuel, raising the octane, cooling the engine, and resetting the timing should get me at least closer...
I did pass the safety part without issue. Everything works, so no reason not to.
Thanks everyone for all the great information, I am learning quite a bit as I go through this.