I had to replace the Y-pipe on my 1995 chevy truck (rusted flanges). I took the OE converter to a recycler. The shyster tried to tell me it was a cheap aftermarket piece, and the converter was only worth $20. I argued back, telling him I'd owned the truck since new (I had) and it was most definitely an OE converter. I was about to leave with my scrap, when he agreed to pay me $100. A-hole
Would oval pipe stop this? That rockauto article says the cutter doesn't work on not round pipe. I don't know how that works. Since, ya know, I don't thieve cats.
In reply to Vajingo :
Sawzalls / hacksaws work on any shape pipe.
In reply to TheRX7Project :
But supposedly the sawsall makes too much noise. (If it was my neighborhood you could operate a jack hammer at 4am and not outbid the noise around here.)
Am I the only one who associates this thread with their cats breaking into the snack cupboard every time they see the thread?
BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) said:Am I the only one who associates this thread with their cats breaking into the snack cupboard every time they see the thread?
It's a real issue here. The cat burglar stole my wife's rings right off the nightstand last night. We didn't even hear him!
I think Keith's concern over quality of an OEM Cat vs aftermarket is valid. The minute you have anything made aftermarket you have a spectrum of crappy to as good or better than the approved item. Most give you effective emissions control (or they couldn't be sold) but the question is for how long.
I use a SOLO product as it gives lower back pressure (good for around 15 bhp on my particular engine) and the cars they are used on have been in service for 15 years without any reports AFAIK of emissions or structural failure. They cost around half of the factory items ($400 vs. $850 for factory and even if it only lasted half as long as the factory item, I'd take it every time just for that extra power. Your federal law requires a new car warranty of eight years or 80,000 miles on the Cats - no idea how realistic that is.
I wouldn't bother with the ones you can find for $99 and up - I expect the early failure rate is commensurate with price.
BTW, where I live we no longer have any emissions testing so I could run without a Cat but social conscience prevents me from doing that. When we did have emissions testing here, the powers that be were only concerned that the test was passed and as long as the clean air aspect was covered you could have whatever exhaust you wanted on a car. I am not sure exactly what purpose the CA rule that parts must be OEM serves - obviously not clean air - a fail would result in a replacement or you couldn't drive the car and the replacement Cat would have to function as well as factory.
You can use non-OEM cats in California. They just need to go through a testing regimen and get approved. We have some in our catalog.
It's illegal to remove or defeat an emission device on the federal level, but enforcement is left to the states and irregularly applied.
The reason you get extra power out of a cat is because it has a less dense matrix. This means less surface area and less effective scrubbing. On older cars, you might get away with it. On newer ones that monitor the health of the emissions systems more closely, you won't. The MSM Miata, for example, is fussy about a borderline cat. And they're 15 years old.
Obviously, if the OEs could get away with using a cat with fewer precious metals that also gave better efficiency and a lower price, you bet your ass they'd use it.
I put a high flow cat on my S2000 and then sold it. I still have the stock cat. Where do I go about selling it to make fat stacks? Just Google local catalytic converter recyclers?
turtl631 said:I put a high flow cat on my S2000 and then sold it. I still have the stock cat. Where do I go about selling it to make fat stacks? Just Google local catalytic converter recyclers?
If it's the same everywhere else, there's a bunch of buyers on facebook marketplace and craigslist. So you can sell it to the highest bidder. I part out a few cars, so I found a refiner that pays top dollar and I don't need to shop around anymore.
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