Help! I need a test pipe..
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,694
Likes: 833
From: WI
By the time you spend a couple hours screwing around with your old cat, then you're looking at the real possibility of creating turbulance inside the empty chambers that didn't exist before, I doubt it'll do a lot for performance but you could try. I guess those weren't all for performance anyway.
Here's an idea: Take a cherry bomb muffler and cut/weld it into place? ha ha..
Here's an idea: Take a cherry bomb muffler and cut/weld it into place? ha ha..
Last edited by Mark G; Jan 31, 2020 at 02:36 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 6,742
Likes: 1,384
I suggested gutting it because it's easy. If it was me, I'd save the flanges and go buy a piece of pipe at the local parts store and weld up my own test pipe using the end flanges. Can you weld? Or have someone that can help you out with that? Looks simple enough and you can even get "pre-bent" sections of pipe cheap.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,694
Likes: 833
From: WI
Or just buy new flanges and parts ya need off ebay or summit racing.
Do a facebook search for test pipe. Might find a seller there ....or on Marketplace. Probably easier to skirt under the law there..
Do a facebook search for test pipe. Might find a seller there ....or on Marketplace. Probably easier to skirt under the law there..
Last edited by Mark G; Feb 1, 2020 at 09:38 AM.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,345
Likes: 753
From: Doctors Inlet Florida
I had a cat go bad on a 94 Z28 once. I gutted the cat and lost a bunch of low end torque. It was a very noticeable seat of the pants loss of power. Either replace the cat with a newer cat or replace it with a pipe.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,812
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From: eastern NC
While on this topic, back in the day ('77-'78) when cat's were new and you could still buy a "test" pipe (MAD sold them 
), a friend and I bought them just to see how restrictive the pancake cat's were. Our under 10,000 mile, L-48 cars would top out at 125 +/- mph. After installing the test pipes they would both break 130mph. My friend removed his full exhaust and installed factory sidepipes on his car, I reinstalled the cat on mine and sold it...
GUSTO
), a friend and I bought them just to see how restrictive the pancake cat's were. Our under 10,000 mile, L-48 cars would top out at 125 +/- mph. After installing the test pipes they would both break 130mph. My friend removed his full exhaust and installed factory sidepipes on his car, I reinstalled the cat on mine and sold it... GUSTO
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Le Mans Master
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From: eastern NC
GUSTO
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Joined: Nov 2017
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From: North Carolina
Gusto mentioned when I bought the White Rabbit in 2017 to think about replacing my original pancake converter sooner rather than later. Finally bought a new hi po catalytic converter from Willcox. Will have it installed as soon as I get the surgical shoe off my right foot.