What all will I have to do to remove the cats from my car? Will I need to purchase some dummy 02 sims? If so how many? Thanks.

 

Yes, 2.

 

No o2 sims needed on the 94. The one rear o2 is just a dummy.

 

Yep, it's the same as the 95 with the dummy rear sensor. The 96 (OBDII) has post cat sensors which is when you need the O2 simulators.

 

So all I have to do is hack them off and replace it with pipe, it wont throw codes or mess with the computer? Thanks for the help guys!

 

You can remove the one rear o2 sensor without a problem. The two fronts have to stay.

 

You don't have to hack them off. They bolt into the system, so unbolt them from the exhaust manifold and exhaust. Any exhaust shop will be able to bolt in a replacement pipe. While you're at it, you can remove the resonator (muffler-looking thing in the middle of the exhaust) and bolt in an x-pipe for pressure equalization. I agree with STL94, you have to keep the front 02 sensors, but you can unclip the rear one from the wiring harness. When I installed my longtube headers, I had PCM4less delete the code for the rear one.

 

Unless they are shot, there is no reason to remove them.

 

I agree. Leave them if they are OK or consider a high flow replacement. We just made 540rwhp NA on a C5 thru a set of QTP headers and cats.

 

plus you have to deal with all the exhaust smell getting in your clothes with no cats

 

hacking cats off an LT1 is worth no more than 10 hp.

it ain't worth it.

 

If you are going to do longetubes, then it is worth it.

 

then it's mandatory. However, installing high flow bullet cats will help a ton.

they will provide just enough presence to improve scavenging, quite the boom and dull the edge from the exhaust.

Loud exhaust is cool for about 10 minutes, then it gets old, fast. Ask me how I know.

Finally, I believe there is a requirement of responsibility that comes with modern hot rodding. You have a modern car, as such, it came with certain items that are required to maintain it's federal (and state) legal status.

Just because your state does not enforce EPA requirements - or are not mandated to do so - does not mean you are excused from the laws. It just makes it that much harder to catch offenders.

In short, states that don't enforce have yet to be required to do so. They will be required if greater volumes of people increase the pollutants in the air. This is done any number of ways, removal of emissions equipment or the total disregard for maintenance of the vehicle.

Since Corvette owners are ****, then maintenance isn't the issue, it's the removal of said emission controls.

What I am saying here is simple: If you remove the emissions controls, and others do the same, because of the fantasy that there is no legal requirement to keep them, the day will come that the law will change and you are boned.

If you do long tube headers, even tho they are not legal, but maintain a pair of cats, which mostly are legal (by the letter of the law, replacing cats and installing long tubes is illegal, but nearly impossible to enforce), you will end up with a sum zero effect on the environment. If that is the end result, guess what? The chances of the pollutant levels increasing is slimmer, which means there is less chance of a law being enacted in your area!

In other words, if the pipe is clean no one will know.

Florida is a huge state with no emissions testing, at all. Period. However, they are in the top 3 of greenhouse gas producing states. It is only a matter of time before the EPA comes on on that state like a ton of bricks.

And I honestly believe that part of the problem with the emissions in FL is that totally blatant disregard for EPA requirements. If everyone who installed exhausts on their hot rods in FL would have simply added a pair of cats, this would not be as bad as it is. I don't blame just the hot rodders, either. I know too damned many rednecks and crackers who would buy their rig and then just remove the cat, because they can. It's all a factor. Don't forget the huge population and the TOTAL lack of any vehicle inspection process.

I don't believe CARB style draconian measures are what is required here. I do believe that some basic attempts at keeping the air clean is important.

 

to add to what Andy said, even replacement bullet cats are not legal, but they are better than nothing especially if you have to pass emissions inspection. The government tells the manufacturers where the cats must be placed, they have to be in a certain location and distance from the engine.
Putting longtubes and moving the cats back further may satisfy the sniffer, but the visual inspection, it won't fly.
NJ is getting as bad as FLA and it won't be long(within our lifetimes) that the whole country will have mandatory inspections.
But what about the rest of the world?
I'm all for clean air, but I want to enjoy my hobby as well, so I'm stuck keeping my car 100% legal and I'm having fun, but I'll tell you right now, now way in hell will I ever buy a hybrid or electric car until they can surpass what we can do now with gasoline.
The electric car conversions I've seen only allow the car to go 90 mph and maybe 150 miles. I couldn't handle that. Good for city people though.

 

Mojo makes a good point. The nature of EPA requirements are of such that location matters.

Long tubes relocate the cat, and by their very nature (as I stated above), long tubes are illegal, unless they have an EO number from CARB or EPA approval.

However, bullet cats are NOT illegal. If they have EPA cert for meeting the requirements, they are fine. So a direct swap of parts, your fine.

As for hybrids, they are their own problem. The Toyota and Honda technologies are impressive, yes, but they are also limited. The majority of hybrid benefit is city based driving. On the highway, there are better vehicles. VW TDI's come to mind. Then there is the cost of battery replacement.

GM released the new Chevy Volt as a prototype at the Detroit autoshow last week. It uses a clever hybrid electric (think freighttrain) system. An electric motor, batteries and a small 1.1 litre I3 to run a generator, if needed, or, it can be plugged into a house. It can get 640 miles of highway driving off this method, using the small gas engine. Finally, an electric that makes sense.

Read about it at www.autoweek.com.

 

REDNECKS AND CRACKERS???

 

FLA used to have emissions inspections, in several of the larger metropolitan areas. They stopped right around 2000-2001. Studies showed that the concentration of pollutants werent high enough to warrant the testing...? But yet 10 years or so before, they were high enough to implement the testing.
Removing Cats is a FEDERAL offense. For that matter tampering with any emission controls is. Including PCM reprogramming. But if nobody is looking...?
Even tho we are a performance oriented shop, I try to keep everything as emission friendly as possible. That primarily means that cam selection for LT1 and LS1 stuff stay kinda conservative on the duration and LSA to limit the overlap, which does nothing more than dump raw fuel in the cats.
We're building 2 LS2 402s and 1 LS1 stroker. ALL will leave here with cats, and mild enough cams for the cats to survive. Even at the expense of a few HP.
As far as the gains from removing them, they're nil.

 

I live in florida and the only counties were pinellas where I live and the miami dade area from what i was told by the people i work with, right across the bay is tampa(hiilsborough co.) and they didn't have any testing at all but was a much larger polluter. Is this fair? I moved from california to here and I'm glad they don't test. Before someone say's anything I am smog legal and plan to keep it that way,but I don't want it to interfere with my fun.

 

Yeah, I lived in Clearwater for years. Also lived in Dunedin (Palm Harbor is beautiful, I miss palm trees!!). Pretty sure the testing was Pinellas, Miami/Dade and Jacksonville. Could be wrong about the Jacksonville, tho. It was kind of a joke, as it was just an idle test. they only tested you on the "rollers" if you failed the idle and/ or they couldnt get a sample (low flow). But IMO any testing is better than no testing. I am trained/certified for IM/240 testing which is/was much more stringent.
Not trying to hijack, back to the point...removing, deleting cats is unnecessary in most cases. for the gain, pointless. Unless you have a cam with a significant amount of overlap that will lead to a CAT failure, there's no point. AND if you do, maybe you should consider a more "green" friendly cam....

 

Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to.