Cats and a 351M \ 400
seems like i might have to get some cats on my truck. it will not pass the
visual inspection that my truck needs. it needs a NY state inspection and
i have a bad feeling it will not pass with out them. being that i am in
virgina and the truck is registered and plates from NY might be a problem.
i have to possibly drive to NY to get my inspection by the end of
November.

anyone running cats on their truck?
how bad will it kill performance on my 351M engine?

Thanks

 

I was thinking you were going to ask how to clean up after a cat made it's home in your Engine Compartment...

As for your question...check local laws...There may be a cut off "no pun intended" year for vehicles to not be required to have CATS...

 

LoL ok cat converters. Sorry for the confusion.
i went to one place and they didnt even weant to put new mufflers onit due to no cat
CONVERTERS on it. somthing about the truck being one of the first to require cat
converters. fines. and other Federal issues.

 

you can get "dummy/gutted" cats for just visual inspection purposes, or they make high flow cats if you are worried about killing performance

 

IIRC, trucks with cats said "unleaded fuel only" on the gas gauge while trucks without them just said "gas". You could also check the emissions sticker under the hood to see if it says "catalyst".

 

A correctly sized catalyst shouldn't create much backpressure. If the rest of the system is OK or repairable, a high flow cat from the autoparts store could be added at reasonable cost. I have used Autozone high flow cats as replacements before with good results. If its not exempt, that's your lowest cost option.

If the original system is shot, a new replacement system would be the lowest cost... parts store, Midas ect.

If the original system for mixture control is working well, the truck should be happy with the cat... if it runs rich, the Cat will run hot. It will work for a while then give up.

 

If it's subject to a sniffer test, weld on some flanges and make 'em removable. If it's only a visual, buy some cheapies, gut them, and weld them in.

 

Thanks guys. i wil probably get some of the lowest cost ones from summit.