No, it's not about an animal. I already know I have to trim off more of my welded-in pipe that goes from the cat to the muffler, but what I need to know is if I need a hanger on either end of the cat, or both. It's an 87 Firebird with the V6, and the way the cat is now, even with trimming off the end of the muffler pipe, I think that the cat is still too low. I'm going to go out ASAP and get myself a set of u-joints for my socket set so I can line up the y-pipe with the installation of new exhaust gaskets, another of which I still have to get. WIll the addition of the gaskets line everything up or will I still have to get the hangers for the cat? Everything would line up except that someone apparently didn't need a cat in Alabama and cut it off, including the flange joint. (GRRRRRRR! Why does everything have to be so hard for me?)

 

Better yet, can someone with a V6 take a pic of their stock exhaust setup between the front and rear wheels so I can see how it is arranged? All of the thirdgens in my area are V8s and I am sure they are different.

 

I can't say for sure since my car never had a cat on it, but I would put a hanger on it if it's sitting way too low or there's not another hanger reasonably close to hold the weight. You can get them from local parts stores or you can make your own hangers with some scrap metal, but you might have to get creative and have access to a welder.

BTW, as for the animals, I don't like them...

 

I know I can get the hangars, but there's a problem with that: I DON"T have any place to attach them to the unit body. The original flanges were cut off and I suppose that is how the cat was hung in the rear. I was kind of hoping someone could get me an under car pic of their cat so I could see if indeed the flange is the rear hanger, since the engine y-pipe is definitely the front hanger. I guess I'll have to get deeper underneath to see what's up.

 

The cat is supposed to hang from the back of the tranny... I gotta find a new hanger. It's like some sort of fabric type hanger.

 

Two questions:
1. Got pics? (Preferably underside shots)
2. How can the hanger be fabric? The cat gets in excess of 2500* F, so hot sometimes that it will glow bright red.

 

random question


today a guy asked me for my catalytic converter (i had just taken it out along with the old y-pipe and manifolds). He said he could get $30 for it (little did he know that it was gutted, haha!). Anyways he also took the manifolds and some old wheels/tires. Is he just collecting junk, or do people actually need these things?

 

depends on where you live whether you need them or not. in CA you must have them because of their strict emissions regulations, and they must be complete unles other mods have been placed so the engine doesn't produce as much HC and NOx. other states may not require them, and still others only mandate that they be in the original factory location, in which case they don't have to function, just be there.

edit- here in NY, some counties requre you to just have the thing. I don't know about others, but I at least have to have it.

 

Doesn't matter what mods you have done to the car if your car came with a cat it has to have a cat. Also those mods have to smog legal as well. Doesn't mean there isn't ways around the system though *cough* unboltable smog systems *cough*
Plus what the smog techs can't see they don't need to worry about. My car passed as a stock 305 with Edelbrock smog legal headers They didn't ask, I didn't tell

 

It may be some type of rubber, but its got a bracket w/ 2 bolts to the cat and then the rubber/fabric part and then a bracket that's riveted into the tranny...

Edit: I'll try and snap a pic tomorrow. It's dark out already. Oh and when you do get the part, do you mind posting the P/N? I need a new one.

 

I still need a pic so I know what to buy! Also, I have a problem with that cat flange-I DON"T have one! I had to cut mine off so I could join the cat with the remainder of the welded pipe.