P-P-P-P-PASSED!
Timing is everything. (And a quart of 91% rubbing alcohol just in case.)

2.6L emissions failure lessons learned from hindsight:

In order, from made the MOST improvement to LEAST improvement of all the things I did to pass smog:

1. Timing. Target is 7?BTDC, +/- 2?. Even if you think it's set, check it again. Mine was set, but somehow ended up at 10?BTDC. Bumping it up to 6?BTDC (vac advance disconnected, by the way), resulted in a noticeable driveability improvement (and I went from 15 to 18mpg around town). I had been hoping for a 15% improvement over the previous test just to scrape by. Correct timing (and the bottle of alcohol) got me DEEP into compliance levels.

2. General tune up. Air filter, oil/filter, spark plugs, PCV, make sure the thermostat opens. This is a good time to clean up your vac lines, too. Trim off loose ends for better seals, dab a little RTV on any caps, maybe try to follow that vac diagram under the hood.

3. O2 sensor.


Hope this helps someone else. Renewal cost me $101, including $32 in late penalties.
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