I am thinking about removing the cats from a 1988 302. Could this cause any problem with the air/fuel mixture or any other aspect of how the motor runs? I was thinking that possibly the computor was "calibrated" to run with a certain amount of backpressure and that removing the cats would throw things off. I think that I read that somewhere.

Also, are the horsepower, torque and fuel economy gains noticable after removing functional cats that arn't plugged?

Thanks.

 

well removing is illegal. so why dont you just replace with a Hiflow cat. if the cat is doing its job then you wouldnt notice much of a change. only when they go bad do you feel a decrease in power. plus you would need to remove other smog equipment on your rig which the ecu does infact need.

 

I pulled mine off of a 1989 fi 300 I6. The reader though was in front of the cat. I cut it off, put straight pipes and never had a prob.
country

 

first of all screw legality take those cats off i have an 88 302 with straight pipes and it runs great oh yeah and since the o2 sensor is in front of the cats it won't mess up the readings to the computer

 

not try'n to be catty but i don't think you'd get so much more power as to make it worth it. They are there to help keep the air we suck in some what cleaner. Its the little things like this that those pollitical watch dog groups use to keep closing off road areas all the time.

 

Do the cats have any effect on the sound of the exhaust...assuming that the rest of the exhaust system is left alone?

 

new cat costs a lot, straight pipe is not too much...maybe we could take up a collection (tax) from the tree huggers to help pay.

 

Cats have a huge effect on exhaust tone, but if the rest of your system is stock, you wont notice much of a difference. And as far as performance, you might notice a slight difference, but fuel injection limits very noticable gains. And theres no need to worry about the computer.

 

sivad1016, youa are gonna make many friends here at FTE. One post so far and it is all negative.
I hope your grand-children appreciate your attitude someday.

 

...Welcome sivad1016 to Ford Truck Enthusiasts!

We are happy you have chosen the best source for Fords.

Enjoy FTE....and
JOIN CLUB FTE -SUPPORT THE FORUMS!
…..See you on the boards.

 

I gutted mine... It's soooooo much easier than removing them. The exhaust tone changes DRASTICALLY!

After mine were gutted, and re-welded back into place, I had a Cherry Bomb glasspack welded onto the last gutted converter, and dual 3" pipes run back to each corner of the rear bumper. When I fire up in the mornings to warm it up and come back in the house, every window in the house rattles. It's amazing!

Good luck!

Nightrain

 

The local laws should play a role in your situation. Some states require cats and you will need them to pass inspection. Here in illinois, there are no inpections but you must have a cat on the vehicle (or dont let a cop look under your truck lol). I started out by just puting cat-back straight pipes on my 95 f150 302 and it was alright. A month later i replaced both cats with a y-pipe and a hi-flow magnaflow cat and that REALLY opened things up. I can sorta notice a small hp increase at high rpm (or at least i like to think there is an increase) but it really made the tone deeper and louder.

 

Is there a muffler after the cat, or is it just strait pipe from there back?


I don't want my truck to be loud. All I am thinking about is performance, fuel economy and simplicity....or in other words less things to fail.

 

Catalysts are required by federal law, though it's up to the states to enforce the law or not. If it's not clogged, I'd leave it alone.

 

I am sorry to have offended you. And I meant the term "tree hugger" in an endearing and positive manner.

There are about 800 million vehicles in the world, 500 million are cars. The US, Japan and Europe account for most of the vehicles. Asia and Latin America are going to be the fastest growing car buyers in the world. 80% of the vehicles in the US have catalyitc converters.

It is predicted that China will quadruple their pollution load by 2020. What will Latin America do? Who knows?

I would focus your concerns for my grandchildren on the events in China and Latin America before I would start a greenpeace movement on my I-6 f150.

Again, sorry to have offended you.