Well, the guy at the shop said he would put a pipe in and take the cat out... You guys think this is a good idea or should I just stick with the Catco?

 

Catco. less problems.

 

CAT , less smell and is almost as good

 

Another vote for the cat; save the environment; you wouldn't notice a huge difference with a pipe over a high-flow cat anyway.

[edit] The mech probably said that because he's still shell-shocked from the "first" catalytic convertors. The auto makers didn't know what the heck they were doing, and made the cats very restrictive. By removing one, a hot-rodder noticed an instant improvement, since the engine was no longer choked. This is no longer the 70's; the auto-makers have gotten factory cats to be pretty high-flowing; almost as much as an aftermarket cat!! This could be why your mech was trying to talk you into a "test pipe".

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited October 15, 2001).]

 

Actually, I asked him if he would do it. I figured that without a cat the flow would be at its max and it would help... people "gut their cats" so why pretend?

If I do go through with it (not sure) then what would some problems be beside the ozone depleation problem?

 

how's this problem: emissions tampering. at least with a gutted cat you pass the visual test.

 

yeh, the smell will be much worse without teh cat on. Also, i've heard it's kinda illeagle to tamper with those thigns, least i think it is so it's probably not a good idea. maybe think catco hiflow. You probably won't notice a huge gain with a straight vs the catco, but both will be better than the stock one.

 

Tampering with the cat is a 25,000 dollar fine. I wouldnt even chance messing with it or taking it out. I bought a random tech for my firebird i owned, and i was really happy with it.

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1972 Chevy Chevelle "Malibu"
Hooker Headers, Flowmaster 40 series mufflers, accel 8.8 wires,Edelbrock performer intake Edelbrock Carb, Torque Thrust "D" wheels
Click here for my Malibu information
In Memory of #3 Dale Earnhardt

 

Strange, I gutted my cat and there is no odd odors coming from the car.

My cat is just plain gutted and there was little to no performance improvement over the stock cat (before it fell apart and plugged the exhaust anyway). I would have went Catco but I needed to get the car running that night.

I vote for the Catco. Try to save the planet if possible.

Dale

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1986 FireBird
2.8L MPFI
1/2 CAI
Gutted Cat, No muffler
Was 700-R4 --> Now T5
**** Great cars aren't bought, they're built ****

 

another one of these gut the cat, screw the cat, or get a bigger cat huh?

you guys only have one of the bastards right?
I myself prefer to screw the cat. I had three on my car though. felt a good power jump through most the rpms range though when I start hitting 5500-8500 rpms the difference is quite a bit.

the way I look at it though is take a straw put a tube of screen mesh in there then hold it up to your a$$ and try farting.... not going to feel very good. now take that screen mesh out and then try it.. prolly still wont feel good but atleast it wont hurt so much... just thinkg about what your car is doing now.. trying to pump out all that exhaust through a friggen obstacle course

if nothing else and you have to pass emissions then keep your cat and swap out the test pipe when it comes to testing time.

 

I don't have to worry about emmissons testing, there is no legislation on it here... Only thing holding me back is the enviro-problem.

My brother just got an H-pipe put on his car that took him down from six cats to no cats. Installed at a local shop with no questions asked.

Well, then is Catco the recommended brand for most flow?

 

I found out, when putting my high-flow cat on, that my original cat was gutted. I felt no performance drop, either. Like I said, this isn't the 70's, cat's have changed. But to each their own!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

the problem with a gutted cat is even though yeah it is an open pipe now due to the sudden change in size it will cause the exhaust to lose velocity. you want as little backpressure as possible. backpressure does not create low end torque. what you are looking for is high exhaust velocity. that is what creates a higher vaccume near the ports and that helps get rid of pumping loss of the pistons pushing the gas out, and also since it gets more gas out of the cyl you have more room to get fresh a/f mixture in there.

so even if you get a highflow cat you are going to get that backpressure. although it will not be as high as with a stock cat prolly. then the best setup would be a straight pipe or a presilncer. that way you get as little backpressure as possible, and instead get the highest flow

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ICQ 4116192
AIM RXspeed87
Got rotary?
header, intake, ported TB
soon to have 4.30 rear, ported intake(just need to intall)new catback,ported motor and lighter triangle

 

OK high flow cat you will pick up more power from it then the straight pipe. Remember our comp controlled engines need exhaust feedback to get the proper info feed backs. Engines tend to run better with SOME restriction/back pressure then with NONE. With NONE you can burn valves, burn out the valve seals, piston rings.... the list goes on. Todays engines in cars depend on some back pressure.

 

Keep the CAT you will see more problems without it then with it

 

On a V-6 does it really matter? Uhh... no. Your forgetting here that V-8's twice the size of the 2.8 V-6 breathe through high flow cats. Thats when the restriction becomes a problem. Since your actually trying to flow half of what a SBC would through a cat designed for the SBC there is no difference to speak of really. Most of the people who complain of a restriction caused by the cat are actually experiencing a plugged cat.

 

Well, I decided to just get the cat and not have to worry about any problems at all.

I guess I will couple a Catco with a flowmaster 80. I wonder if it will provide for a noticable change in sound and performance.

Thoughts? (Don't tell me about the Dynomax... I don't care)

 

Great point!!! I never thought about it that way. That argument reminds me of the people wanting a 3" cat-back for their V6's... if most V8's use a 2.5" instead of a 3", our cars are perfectly happy with 2.5".



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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)