I know most people's opinions on this but we have no emissions here and the state is too poor to ever do it.

I'm pretty positive one or both of my cats is clogged in the past 20 years and 160k miles so I want to delete the back one. What would be the easiest way to do this if I don't have a welder? I know a shop won't do it so I'd have to do it myself.

 

I looked at those walker y pipes and it looks like they would eliminate the first cat but I really can't tell what they do.

 

The front cat is the NOX cat, which reduces oxides of nitrogen into nitrogen, oxygen, and ammonia. This is the cat that reduces the output of oxides of nitrogen that break down in the atmosphere into Nitric Acid and creates acid rain that poisons lakes, rivers, streams, and burns farmer's crops in the field. The rear cat is the HC/CO oxidation catalyst, which converts excess hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide into water vapor and carbon dioxide, as well as eliminating ground level ozone This is the cat that eliminates smog, which poisons crops, and causes lung cancer and asthma attacks. It is what a modern three way catalyst combines into one case. Considering that a decent high flow three bed generic cat is about $100.00, why not eliminate the factory cats altogether and put the walker pipe and a high flow cat on so that you get better performance and you don't poison the air with a bunch of crap that most of us don't want to have to breathe or have our children breathe? If you shop around you might even find one for less than $50.00. I got a high flow dynomax cat on Ebay for my truck about 5 years ago for $40.00. I got a power boost, a 1.5 MPG fuel economy boost, and clean tailpipe emissions. I am not trying to be condescending, but as both a Master Tech and a dad, it annoys me when people resort to the "just cut the damn thing off" mentality.

 

If I bought the walker y pipe and a high flow cat, could I piece it all together in my driveway without a welder and would that change the sound at all compared to my stock 2 cat setup?

 

Excellent advice, Argo. That's what I'll be doing on mine as CATs don't bother me one bit, just like properly functioning EGR valves don't.

 

I don't mind having them if they function properly. I was just going to save myself some money because I'm poor and I just bought a house.

 

Also, this is the only forum I've ever been to where everybody flips out about catalytic converters.

 

I don't think anyone is flipping out on you, here. We were just saying that CATs serve a purpose, a good one at that, and they aren't really that expensive to fix/replace on our trucks.

Yes, your plan to get the Walker Y-pipe and a high flow 3-way CAT is a good idea. In fact, you don't even have to use a welder on the front joint, and you might not have to on the rear joint depending if your CAT is flared on both ends. What you might consider, if you want to spend the extra cashola, is to buy a bolt-up flange so you can remove the front portion of the exhaust in the future without too much headache if you ever needed to. Regardless, if you go the Walker and new 3-way CAT route, you'll have to add pipe to make up for the space the rear CAT took up. Unless you have somebody flare the new pipe for you, you will need a welder for that.

Your sound shouldn't change any, especially if you still have your stock muffler.

 

Depending on the condition of the rest of the exhaust you may not need a welder, torch or other pieces/parts. I have performed exhaust work in my home garage many times without the use of welders or air tools. It just depends on the condition of the exhaust.

 

I have a magnaflow muffler. It's not much louder than stock, just deeper. I'd actually like a little more volume but not screaming loud.

 

The only work I've done at home was on mustangs and it was all bolt in stuff, mid pipes, catback a, headers. Easy stuff when there's no fitting involved.

 

You should be able to make it work with basic hand tools in your driveway no problem, assuming you have jack stands and can get it up about 2 feet off the ground.

As for sound, it will sound the same with a stock type exhaust. If you straight pipe it from the cat to the tailpipe and just use a resonator or you use a flow through muffler like a dynomax ultra flow it will sound like a cummins with an aftermarket exhaust up to about 3000 rpm. I have a student in my shop class that did that with his '91 F-150 with a 300. He originally used a 3 bed cat from a scrapped 92 caprice and a resonator from a 2001 toyota camry to pass inspection when he first got it, and it sounded like a "choked" cummins. After he got a high flow cat and a dynomax ultra flow muffler it sounded like a cummins up to 3,000 rpm, when it then started to sound like a Jaguar. It's a bit too loud for my taste, but then I like the quiet farm tractor sound my exhaust makes with a high flow cat and a quiet flow muffler.

 

I like it loud, lol. My first car was a 98 mustang with longtubes, o/r H and flow 40s, next car was a 2000 gt with a 5.4, long tubes, o/r x and magnaflows. This is by far the quietest vehicle I've owned.

Around here, everything on the road is pretty loud.

 

I am sorry I gave you that impression, I didn't mean to. I also don't object to someone temporarily removing a cat because it is clogged up... I did it myself when my original cats failed while I gathered the pieces to put a new exhaust on, for about a month. An unclogged engine with no cats is cleaner than a choked engine with them. I also understand the house thing LOL! I just bought mine 3 years ago, and I am always surprising myself with how I can adapt my car fixing skills to general contractor skills with a little help from youtube! I just replaced my submerged well pump by myself (well, with my next door neighbor lending a hand) about 6 months ago thanks to a youtube video that showed me how to do it. I am not trying to beat you up, but at the same time, I don't want my kids growing up in a polluted world. Good luck with it, and with the house!

 

Thanks man. We got the house about 15k cheaper than its worth, but with that comes a lot if work. The previous owners decided to do a lot of work themselves that should have been done by someone who knew what they were doing. Now I have to fix everything they messed up. Fortunately I helped my dad with every project he's done in my lifetime.