ianj650

I'm thinking of removing my catalytic from the exhaust. What could be some of the side effects to the system. Zip or one of them sells some new oxygen sensors that tricks the computer into thinking their still in the system. Has any body else done this mod and can give me some input?

dougbfresh

Why waste your time and effort?

ianj650

I make long drives six hours or better regularly with it. Through the desert mostly. I get a lot of heat coming up through the tunnel area because of the converters. I want to eliminate the heat issue.

cdnguyred88

The smell can be bad at times.

81c3

Well, if you want to keep setting codes on the DIC, have terrible exhaust fumes actually come into the vehicle, like loud occasional backfires and want it to sound like a dump truck on deceleration, then by all means, remove the cats.

tiojames

Removing the cats will not make that much of a difference. Insulation will.

Corvette Don

Not worth it on a stock car. Buy a tunnel plate for the heat.

Bill Curlee

Insulate the tunnel and floor boards with Frost King heat duct insulation and some reflectex foil covered bubble wrap and you will be amazed at the difference in heat rejection and less road noise:









Installation is fairly easy

BC

AlphaKnight34

I did a similar mod, replacing my old cats (they ummm, got a hole in them both) with high flow cats, with the option of off road pipes (no cats) I also had dyno runs done, O2 simulators added and tuning. for the effort, there was a negligible increase in HP and torque with the off road pipes installed. Went back to the high flow cats. All in all, wasn't really with it.

Just my two cents

Soul per4mance

good thing is that your rpms might climb alittle faster which is good for an all out racer, but for a stock daily driver, there are much more negatives to it. You're going to get alot of popping and burbling upon deceleration, along with the increase smell of exhaust fumes. Not really good to be sitting in traffic on a hot day and smelling that. Why not just get high flow cats?

MattB

A ceramic coated tunnel plate will reduce the heat, and it will add a lot of stiffness to your Vette. Its a good upgrade. It will not completely eliminate it, but you can follow Bill's post and combine that with the tunnel plate to really reduce heat and noise.

Gideon's_Test

I had mine removed when the long tubes were installed...Don't miss them. The high flow units are expensive and not worth the bother, in my opinion. Exhaust sounds great without 'em and the smell isn't bad as people suggest...Frankly, it just smells a little rich is all..(and my nose is more sensitive than most)...

Blown427conv

My cats were removed before I got the car and it runs and sounds OK. It does seem a little rich on the exhaust smell and I don't think there is a measureable power gain without them. I'm with the majority on this one, leave them unless you are replacing the whole system with headers etc.

tiojames

Also a federal violation-muff shops can be fined up to $25,000 and lose their license. For the few HP, it's not worth it.

Jeffwilson34

I have no cats on mine and do not notice any smell, I also do not hear and backfires or anything.
Longtube headers, no cats, and Borla Quad tip Stingers and it sounds great.
Just have a tuner turn off the DIC codes for the rear O2's.

rebelheart

With todays tech there is no need to go without cats IMHO!

iced98lx

I don't have cats, but I also dont' have those issues. Had I not been putting on headers, I would have left mine alone, they do serve a purpose, none of of which are to stop exhaust fumes from entering the car or prevent backfires. Your cats could be clogged if they're getting super hot, but the car will pop a CEL if it gets hot enough. I'd try the insulation first and a tunnel plate... My tunnel still gets plenty warm on long trips without the cats.

PewtVette

Wrap the inside of the tunnel and the tunnel plate and you will be happy:

Bill Curlee

WOW! Nice insulation stuff. What is it and where do you get it?? Thats on my list of must do!

Thanks

BC

Thalomos

Are you talking about a burning type smell after flooring it? I guess I read it wrong, the smell is only if the cats are removed.... meh, guess I have some other problem. I think something might be touching the exhaust.

Didn't mean to thread-jack :P