Gutting the Cat Converter
 

I think I have an aftermarket cat converter. Since the emissions equipment is already gone off my truck and I have an edelbrock carb the cat is pretty much useless. For all I know too it might be original and clogged up. Is there any benefit to gutting the cat even it its not "clogged"???

I just don't want to get into gutting it and run into problems with the exhaust. Exhaust work always seems to be a can of worms to me. You touch one thing and it becomes a major project. Maybe its just me but rusty pipe never goes over well.

Thanks!

If the cat isn't clogged, I would see no benefit in messing with the catalytic converter. If it is clogged, you should replace it with a high flow aftermarket unit. Cats were required after 74, and if your vehicle came with one, federal law requires it be present to be street legal.

The truck is not street legal now, since all the emission parts, except the cats have been removed, and...

First cats were installed in 1975, but not all trucks came with them, as it depended on the series, individual states emission laws, GVWR's. CA yes in some cases, other states, I dunno.

If the muffler is clogged up (not the cat, as they usually don't clog up), you will know it, unless you are deaf.

Peeps in the 1970's removed the restrictors in fuel filler tubes that only gas station unleaded fuel nozzles would fit into. Back then there were two sizes of nozzles, leaded fuel nozzles ware larger in diameter.

They then assumed they could use leaded fuel. Fine and dandy unless cat converters were present. The lead in the fuel melted the charcoal in the cats, shoved it into the muffler.

Before too long, their vehicles sounded like vacuum cleaners headin' on down the road.

Cats can become restricted when they melt a bit, mostly due to improper fueling. They don't always break up and pass through the exhaust, may times they simply melt, which closes the passages in the ceramic structure. As far as legality goes, if the original emissions equipment was not maintained on the motor, the cat is a moot point, and may have melted due to improper fueling and lack air injection of the emissions system.

Why not just replace it with a piece of pipe?