rwd407

1989
Okay, it's official. The pre-cats on the front Y-Pipe are shot. (Well at least they're rattlin' enough that I refuse to even drive the car. My question is about my options. Of course I can buy the OEM Y-Pipe with precats on 'em. Or I can by the "high performance" Y-pipes without precats. Besides savin' me a hundred bucks, what's the pluses and negatives of the no pre-cats option? Also, will this have any signifigant impact on exhaust volume? Thanks for any input or personal experiences.

chucks88

Good timing, I just ordered from Ecklers( I know, everybodies favorite) a new front y-pipe cat-free and it comes with a new high flow main cat for another $75 which is usualy about $150. If your precats were clogged, and they normally become clogged long b/4 the main cat, you will notice a fair amount of gains. Even if your cats were in good shape, taking them out will yield more ponies. I think the chances of you not passing your states emissions tests are small.

My '88 has 112K, I think i'll notice the difference. They should be put on next week, I'll fire you off a post if you'd like.


Chuck

65Z01

The exhaust sustem is just that. If you remove the flow restrictions it will flow better and be louder. Doing the front Y-pipe is one step.

I did the front Y-pipe along with hi-flow cat and cat-back and realized substantial gains in power, as well as sound level. The gains are on my site.

If you don't realize big gains from the change, at least your system is ready for the next step if/when you decide to take it. If you use a 3-stage cat there are no negatives to the mod (it's 49states legal).

traxx1

I have the pre cats gutted in my 89 roadster and it passed emissions with flying colors, here in Arizona they are pretty tight but they couldn't even look under the car to see if I had a main cat on because it set too low and when they open the hood the kid said wow so thats what a corvette motor looks like, don't worry about the emissions.

:jester :jester :jester

rwd407

I appreciate the input so far. As far as emmissions go, I'm in Florida and there is not testing (at least in this part of the state).

thanx again....

TAC

You'll also get a deeper bark in the exhaust. :yesnod:

joecaver

I just had to do the same thing to my 90. The rattling was real bad. I used the same no cat front 'y' from Ecklers with the high performance main cat. I also replaced the rear 'y' and mufflers with all OEM parts. The result is a much more free flowing exhaust that is much loader than what I had. At first I didn't think that I could get used to it, but I did. The shop that put it all on said it would get a little less noisy with time and I think it has. It also passed emissions testing but just barely. I hope this helps.