If you think it's clogged then you should look into a reason as to why. I believe most cats are designed to last the average lifetime of the car...even in the 80's.

 

Good point..

 

Factory Catalytic Converters lasted 100,000 miles or so under normal use in the 1970's - 1990's.

There was Zinc in the engine oils back then.
It slowly degraded all catalytic converters.

EPA made all the auto makers remove the Zinc additive from typical auto & light truck engine oils.

CATS now last 200,000 + miles under normal usage.

Removal of zinc from engine oils has caused countless flat tappet camshaft failures in older vehicles over the last 10 years.

CHOP your old Cats off.
You will pick up some HP & torque.

Been doing it most of my life on older American Cars & trucks since 1983.
They always ran better afterwards.

I left the Cats on my 87 Vert intact.
They will come off & long tube headers & Fabbed exhaust system with my engine swap.

 

Yea I think I will take them off... I have a friend that has a set of flowmaters if I want them, but I think I will just leave it stock

 

Replace your stock OEM 1986 mufflers with something more free flowing.

I have muffler eliminators.

Sounds very good & gets loud only @ WOT>

If you remove all the CATS with muffler eliminators it will likely be loud all the time.

I learned to care about older neighbors & cops patroling around the neighborhood last 5 years.

I used to love running around town in my cars with Open Long tube headers and screaming a SBC or BB pontiac at 7k RPM's.

LOL

BR

 

I agree it will make the car run better. However, the gains are very small. Alot of people just think its faster because its louder. Be ready for the louder exhaust and smell of unburned emissions.

 

sounds like taco bell take out. lol.

 

lol.. My plan is just to take the cats off and replace them with a short pipe..

 

Add 1 or 2 gallons of LL 100 Aviation Gasoline or 110 motor octane race fuel to the gas tank of your Vette.

It wont stink no more.

There will be Real Man Cologne in the air for the wife or girlfriend to smell & all you buds too nearby.



BR

 

Take it FWIW. I ran a hollowed out cat and then tried a straight pipe for test purposes. I had a Borla Stinger exhaust that was "Cat back". I thought it was way too loud so I put the cat back on. I don't have the front cats since I had TPIS headers.

 

My plan was to simply remove them and leave everything else the same.. I'm not sure if it will be a good thing or bad thing..

 

Well, if you don't mine the drone and it seemed like it was more with the cats hollowed out than with the test pipe and you don't have a grumbling wife, rock on. I have to put up with the noise from BOTH the car and the wife who hates the loud noise that gives her a headache.

 

This is not aimed at anyone in particular, just general information.

The laws governing catalytic converters on vehicles are FEDERAL laws. Your state may have certain laws regulating what types of converters can be installed in place of another type and similar laws.

If your vehicle came from the factory with catalytic converter(s) then it is against FEDERAL law to remove them if you operate the vehicle on public roadways anywhere in the US. It doesn't matter what kind of tags you have. It doesn't matter whether your state inspects emissions or not. There are also federal and state laws governing the replacement of catalytic converters.

I have not been able find a reference for the current fine, but last I heard it was something like $25,000 if you remove your cats and drive on the street. Again, this is a federal fine enforceable across all 50 states.

Have I ever heard of anyone actually getting caught and fined? Not personally.

 

No problem to cut them out and pipe thru. Many shops will not remove them because it is illegal to do so. If you take em off yourself and show up at the shop they are uneasy but they generally will do what you want at that point. You may not get a receipt for the work tho. Hopefully the shop you are going to are friends or family or not worried about the consequences, lol.

You could pull it up on a trailer, drag it to the shop and say your converting it to a track car but thats a long shot.

Good luck to ya!

 

Why bother with all that? Just take the cat out, gut it and replace.

 

The restriction of the main cat on an L98 engine is about 10hp when stock, so it does improve flow to yank the thing.

LT1, not so much.

 

lol.. I have one, but she won't ride in it anyway.. She calls it my mid life crisis mobile...

 

Cut the CATS off.

Test tube(s).

You are miles away from the smog police too.

 

Older cats are typically cheaper than newer cats. Quality bullet cats like the ones from Random Technology work just fine.

 

I been reading your info on removeing cats. It seems your comments or totaly incorrect. Maybe you guys know something I don't, however when I removed my catalytic converter I recieved a noticable performance increase... and a butt load of new problems to go with it. First of all the extra performance is the lack of flow restriction in the exhaust system - its better than adding aft market headers. However, the restriction of exhaust flow backs up the gases allowing the o2 sensor time to properly read the un-burnt fuel. With out the cat the o2 can't get a proper reading and sends false reading to the computer which than send false reading to the injectors for the proper changes in the fuel mixture. The in result a fast but problematic car. Great for the occasional driver who don't mind the extra required attention. Horrible for a daily driver who don't have time for tinkering. But if you must remove it (as I did) start with a simple cat delete - it attaches a scoope at the tip of your 02 sensor so it may catch some exhaust and attempt a reading. Be prepared to make adjustments for weather changes etc. - the computer usually do this on the fly but the removal of the cat limits its ability. But when running correctly its fast! For even more; remove the smog pump - replacing it with the delete pully - smoking tires! - Just be ready - to hold it - and the extra needed attention. Ps. I hollowed my cats and did not simply cut them off. I was told it allows minimal exhaust backup allowing the o2 sensors more time to get better readings - This do not reduce any of the horses you seek.