Cats or no Cats ???
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Ellicott City Md.
Cats or no Cats ???
I thinking about doing some exhaust work on my '82 CE. Does anyone out there have any opinions on getting rid of the catalytic converter or should I replace with a new high flow unit ???
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
Likes: 88
From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
It's a tough decision... You are violating federal law if you remove it.. but who's gonna check?? If you don't have emissions in your state, you'll probably get away with it as there are no federal emisssion tests.. For performance, removing the cats should give you at least another 10 HP or so..
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 528
Likes: 9
From: Grand Rapids Michigan
I don't know anything about the X-fire unit and how it works, but you may want to make sure the cat con removal won't decrease the driveability of the car with respect to the injection. I also don't think you'd get 10HP, all things being equal between having a good new high flow cat or no cat at all. It isn't the main point of restriction with these engines, the heads are. When i havemy exhaust made into true duals, I will go with dual cats as I don't see what I would lose except some $$$.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,412
Likes: 3
A good high flow cat will flow better than a flowmaster and keep the air around your car smelling nice. If you want it to be loud, use some high flow cats and some dynomax bullets. That's what I did, if you're interested I can send you a sound clip.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,664
Likes: 162
From: columbia city in
a nice long steel bar ramed thru your old cat will open things up .when your done your old cat will turn into a test pipe .put that back on for a couple of weeks then make your choice on spending the money for a new cat .my test pipe was put on about 6 years ago ,iam still doing test .
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 7,493
Likes: 1,500
From: Little Rock AR
You can put on a high flow modern design cat and get an improvement.
You could also unbolt the stock system in 2 pieces and throw it up in the garage rafters. The whole shebang will drop out with only 10 nuts and 2 bolts removed. Then put on a true dual setup on the car. The systems can be removed and switched back on a saturday morning if you do it right. That is what I did.
You never know when the environmental big brothers will start looking under your car so it is a good idea to hang on to that stuff.
-Mark.
You could also unbolt the stock system in 2 pieces and throw it up in the garage rafters. The whole shebang will drop out with only 10 nuts and 2 bolts removed. Then put on a true dual setup on the car. The systems can be removed and switched back on a saturday morning if you do it right. That is what I did.
You never know when the environmental big brothers will start looking under your car so it is a good idea to hang on to that stuff. -Mark.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,028
Likes: 1
From: SOUTH ELGIN IL
a nice long steel bar ramed thru your old cat will open things up .when your done your old cat will turn into a test pipe .put that back on for a couple of weeks then make your choice on spending the money for a new cat .my test pipe was put on about 6 years ago ,iam still doing test .
I did this for years on my '80 Z28 running 2.5" duals to Dynomax Super Turbos and even passed emission tests in IL... although how i still ponder
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