I am new to the site because this weekend I am picking my 1986 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z. I posted all the information on the car here Anyway, the car doesn't have a Catalyst Converter on it. The car is being bought out of NJ and be dropped off here in PA where I live. Now PA has inspection and emissions test on the car (they use a sniffer for the exhaust as well). So i need to get a Catalyst Converter for the car and need to get it installed onto the car so I can pass emission. Now I was told that the Catalyst Converter bolts right in (would guess using and OEM new or old one. Instead of going with a factory one, which company or model should I go with for an aftermarket high-flowing Catalyst Converter? I really don't want to blow alot of $$ on one.. so maybe just an OEM used or new one would be best? Where can I go and get one of these, and also if i was to get one off a junkyard car, what other cars could I use the Catalyst Converter off of, as a direct bolt on?

 

what your gonna have to do is get under the car and see how it was removed. they do bolt in from the factory but what alot of people do is cut them out and weld in a straight pipe. if they did that your gonna have to do some fabricating to get a new one to bolt in.

 

If it bolts to the pipe at the rear of where the converter was, a direct fit will be pretty easy to install, but this does cost a good bit more. A standard generic Catco converter will replace a straight piece of pipe and flows really well. Put it on just before getting the emissions check so it will be fresh, and do an oil change too.

 

Something's not right with this story. There was no TBI (which stands for Throttle Body Injection, by the way) in 1986. The choices were LG4 carburated 305, VIN code H, or LB9 TPI (Tuned Port Injection) 305, VIN code F (if it is the ultra-rare choice, L69, VIN code G, consider yourself lucky).

If it is/was TPI, it has a 3" slip-fit inlet cat. If the rest of the exhaust is stock, get a direct-fit cat such as Catco 9118 - much cheaper in the end than getting a universal cat and putting pipe in to get it working.

If those are the picutures of the car (following many imbedded links), that's not TPI. In order for it to be TBI, it has to have been fitted into the older car by someone sometime in the past.

 

Looks like an LG4/L69 with a q-jet to me.

 

Agreed, now that I'm on a computer w/better resolution and highspeed...