Remove cats and resonator???
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: Oklahoma City OK
Remove cats and resonator???
Has anyone removed both the cats and resonator? Is this a good idea?
Anything to gain? What's the downside, if any. Long story short...some a@#hole decided he needed my cats worse than I do so, needless to say,
I'm gonna need some pipes. Not too worried about replacing cats, I live in Oklahoma - no emission testing. Should I leave the resonator or replace with x-pipe and run to stock mufflers? Any advice appreciated.
1992 Lt1. auto.
Anything to gain? What's the downside, if any. Long story short...some a@#hole decided he needed my cats worse than I do so, needless to say,
I'm gonna need some pipes. Not too worried about replacing cats, I live in Oklahoma - no emission testing. Should I leave the resonator or replace with x-pipe and run to stock mufflers? Any advice appreciated.
1992 Lt1. auto.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 34,873
Likes: 487
From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
NCM Sinkhole Donor
The factory cats actually flow very well compared to the earlier cats on the L98 cars. There are aftermarket cats that flow very well. What makes using OEM or aftermarket cats a good deal is that they will bolt up to the factory exhaust. Aftermarket exhaust systems are designed to bolt up to the factory cats. Doing it this way means no welding or bending pipe. Just bolt it on.
There are lots of good aftermarket cat-back systems available from Magnaflow, Corsa, and Billy Boat (I think there are some threads about a sale on these right now). Some of these systems include an X-pipe or have one as an option. Personally, I like the X-pipe as it does cut down on interior resonance and smooths out the tone of the exhaust sound.
The OEM resonator does a lot to quiet the factory exhaust. Remove it and the mufflers may not do a lot and there will be lots of interior resonance. It will come at cruise speeds and be loud to your ears.
There are lots of good aftermarket cat-back systems available from Magnaflow, Corsa, and Billy Boat (I think there are some threads about a sale on these right now). Some of these systems include an X-pipe or have one as an option. Personally, I like the X-pipe as it does cut down on interior resonance and smooths out the tone of the exhaust sound.
The OEM resonator does a lot to quiet the factory exhaust. Remove it and the mufflers may not do a lot and there will be lots of interior resonance. It will come at cruise speeds and be loud to your ears.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,139
Likes: 482
From: H-Town Texas
If you have insurance, I would recommend having them replace the cats.
My current set-up is stock manifolds, and the cats were cut out due to them burning up. This runs to a Magnaflow "resonator" --it's a dual in/out muffler with built in x-pipe. The rear mufflers have been removed.
I love the sound myself and get alot of compliments. Removing the cats increased the sound alot, but thae magnaflow does alot to keep resonance and drone to a minimum. Alot better than the stock piece. But with the hotcam, it sounds alot like a race car. And there are times when I wish the cats were still there sound wise. But I will say, that after a little tune tweaking (obdII) I picked up a few noticable ponies.
But warning, this set-up gives a little bit of a "radical" sound. Alot like an old school sbc. If you want a milder sound, I would suggest keeping cats, but definitely have something in the resonator spot, x-pipe, aftermarket, or keep the stock piece. That is there to keep sanity in the cockpit.
My current set-up is stock manifolds, and the cats were cut out due to them burning up. This runs to a Magnaflow "resonator" --it's a dual in/out muffler with built in x-pipe. The rear mufflers have been removed.
I love the sound myself and get alot of compliments. Removing the cats increased the sound alot, but thae magnaflow does alot to keep resonance and drone to a minimum. Alot better than the stock piece. But with the hotcam, it sounds alot like a race car. And there are times when I wish the cats were still there sound wise. But I will say, that after a little tune tweaking (obdII) I picked up a few noticable ponies.
But warning, this set-up gives a little bit of a "radical" sound. Alot like an old school sbc. If you want a milder sound, I would suggest keeping cats, but definitely have something in the resonator spot, x-pipe, aftermarket, or keep the stock piece. That is there to keep sanity in the cockpit.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: Bolingbrook IL
I have SLP short tube headers on one end and Dynomax mufflers and tips on the other. The rest of the exhaust is stock LT1.
I drilled the pipe just ahead of the cats and installed a pressure gauge to measure the exhaust backpressure.
To my surprise the stock system only has 1-1/2 psi 5500 rpm! That's an excellent number and very hard to improve upon. I was actually hoping to replace the cats/resonater and get a sound and performance improvement but now I'm leaving it alone. I could improve the sound but I doubt the performance would. The stock system performs very well indeed.
Rick - '92 LT1
I drilled the pipe just ahead of the cats and installed a pressure gauge to measure the exhaust backpressure.
To my surprise the stock system only has 1-1/2 psi 5500 rpm! That's an excellent number and very hard to improve upon. I was actually hoping to replace the cats/resonater and get a sound and performance improvement but now I'm leaving it alone. I could improve the sound but I doubt the performance would. The stock system performs very well indeed.
Rick - '92 LT1
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Safety Car
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 4,659
Likes: 82
From: Toronto ontario
I ran for a longtime long tube headers no cats to factory resonator back setup on my 93. It sounded absolutely amazing. No drone and had a nice bark to it at idle and low speeds and absolutely roared at wot. On a stock car I like it better than a b&b or Corsa system. If you don want to spend on longtubes just replace with piping and you will be fine too.
