Hey there,

Just curious about removing the catalytic converter on my F-150... A friend of mine told me that if I remove it I would have to have my computer chip reprogramed to make up for the fuel to air mixture... I don't think that I would have ot do that but would wanted to ask about it.

I'm also looking for a new ignition kit and was wondering about y'alls ideas on thje MSD 6a kit... How do you like it and whats a good price for the entire kit....

Thanks!!
Spatch

 

Don't know about the cat, but i have the MSD 6a and its worth the money. 133 bucks from summit and takes about 30-60 minutes to install.

 

I don't think you are allowed to just remove the converter. I think federal law in the US says that you cannot remove the converter all together, besides, from what I've heard, converters hurt performance very little, so it wouldn't be worth removing it.

 

I respectfully disagree. Catalytics, especially old ones, restrict performance a good amount to a lot.

Performance-oriented high-flow catalytic converters are better, but Most trucks don't come with anything like that.

There's no real reason you'd have to get a new chip if you removed the catalytic (that I know of). You very well may be able to take more advantage of the freer-flowing exhaust with a chip upgrade, but you'll still notice more power without the chip.

Re: The MSD 6A, MSD TFI coil, & MSD Ford TFI wiring harness - yes, especially with the harness it can take under an hour to install. I wasn't too worried about a showroom-worthy engine compartment, so mine is mounted flat, but diagonally, across where the charcoal canister used to go. I moved the canister over a few inches and bolted it down using (only) one of the existing holes on top of that fender.

Generally I do notice a power improvement, and it does start faster (which means it starts like the truck should have from the beginning - it's still not as easy and as fast of a start as the Mazda car I just got rid of was).

It's not acting like a Ford 302 though - and that's because of the lean condition out puny injectors make the engine run on (ok, besides the fact that it is cammed differently and it doesn't rev as high).

But I haven't taken full advantage of the power the ignition puts out yet since I haven't regapped my sparkplugs wider. I just threw some side-gapped plugs in it before the MSD-6A install, so I haven't felt the need or desire to get them out. I suppose I'll gap 'em wide when i put new ones in it in about 10k miles.

Borg Warner sells a higher-end brass terminal cap and higher-end rotor. They also make spiral-core wires, and with them I haven't noticed any radio interference. (My CB did break up a little today in talking to a truck 200 feet away - I'll have to look into that further though.)

But I just put it in the truck yesterday, and I haven't done any highway miles yet to really test it. But the properties of the MSD-6 boxes seem like they would really be a good thing for these low-revving I-6's since they deliver multiple sparks-per-compression-firing from zero to 3000 RPM (and that's right where we run our sixes).

Go Steelers !

 

removing the cat will make a significant difference if yours is stopped up. it did on mine anyhow. I didn't reprogram my computer and it runs fine. still get about 17 mpg too.