I am planning on putting an exhaust on my truck this weekend from the y pipe back, I don't have enough money for headers right now. Anyway there is that metal tube that goes from the cat to the back of the engine can I just plug it or do I need to do something special. Truck is a 97 with 460 I don't need a cat anymore so I'm just going to get rid of it

 

I know on my 89 with a 351w that's just an air tube to put air into the exhaust and it can get cut off with no ill effects. I'm going to assume its the same thing.

 

That is correct. It is part of your AIR system. If you are planning on removing the cat, look into 'smog pump delete' and remove the entire system, rather ten hack off half.

That said, you are not going to notice any performance gains fr om removing the AIR system. Also, unless you have decent internal upgrades to the engine, you really have no reason to remove a cat.

 

I thought that exhausts really wake these trucks up? I don't need the cat so I figured removing it would just be less restriction it can't hurt right

 

An exhaust system is much more than just a catalytic converter. A normally-operating cat and AIR pump are absolutely no detriment to performance. To truly "wake up" an engine of this era requires lots more than just halfhearted, piecemeal exhaust work.

Besides, removing them is a Federal offense under Section 203(a)(3)(A) and (B)of the Clean Air Act and, if you're caught, can cost you thousands of dollars in fines and I don't know that you'll be able to legally sell the truck like that.

See Transportation and Air Quality | US EPA
See Title II | Clean Air Act | US EPA
See http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/fuels/cff/memo-1a.txt
See Clean Air Act | US EPA

Just sayin'...........

 

 

Removal of the Cats and the AIR system gains about 2 - 3 h.p. at best. Not worth the effort in my eyes, unless you absolutely want to proudly say to anyone that will listen, "I removed the cat and smog pump!"

Here in The Peoples Republic Of Kalifornistan, you can forget about smogging a truck modded in that manner. It's also a "Big fines and no more registering said vehicle until all items are reinstalled" type of infraction if you happen to get caught.

You really want to wake that sleeping beast up? Headers, mild ecm-friendly cam, mild portwork to the heads, cut off the horns on the intake and set timing to 12 to 14 degrees. Maybe add a Gibson cat-back exhaust system.

An (in)famous "Six Litre tune-up" wouldn't hurt, either. Just don't buy one of those blasted K&N air filters! The only thing they do is lighten your wallet and by design, due to the larger openings in the filter weave, let more dirt into your engine!

Half-baked muffler replacements just to make a butt-load of noise really won't do a thing for performance but it's your truck. We can only make suggestions. Whether you listen and weigh the merits or not, that's up to you.

Just my personal opinions. YMMV. Void where prohibited. No coupon required. Only one offer per day, per person.

 

OP is in NY. ---------------------------------see next post-------------------

NYS DMV - Vehicle Safety, Inspection, Repairs and Dealers

 

From that link:

 

yea i dont need a cat my mechanic told me so because of the weight and the fact that in n.y. if a vehicle is 15 years or older it dosnt need to pass inspection and next year my truck will be 15 and i just got the inspection so by next inspection time the truck wont need it anyway. im not getting rid of it for a load of noise i figure anything in the exhaust system that is not smooth pipe is a restriction. if cats arent restrictive why would they sell high flow cats. there has to be some restriction there or just a very good sales scheme. i dont want my truck to be stupid loud anyway thats not my goal i just want it to breath a little better. i am just going to replace from the y pipe back because i dont have the money for the whole system right now or i would be doing headers and all. i am planning on doing the timing and the air horns too. im not some dumb little kid trying to make noise and wake the neighbors i just have read in lots of posts that an exhaust does wonders for these restricted trucks.

 

The F250 and F350 actually have a decent exhaust already. The huge single converter and dual down pipes flow pretty good. The F150/Bronco on the other hand use a completely different design y-pipe and converter scheme. There is plenty of room for improvement on those.

 

Did you read what I just posted?

 

yes i was agreeing with you

 

Here in wa, the cutoff is 25 years, so it 3 more years I'll go cat less.

My Audi passed emissions with no cats, but that's because they don't do a sniffer on newer vehicles.

 

I don't think you read it.