can i cut out cat converter and replace with straight pipe.will this help mileage and hp or harm??

 

you can replace it with pipe what kind of muffler do you have without a cat you will have more power and a louder exhaust pending on your exhaust set up,is it a 250 or 150,4x4

 

I removed both cats on my '92 with the 5.8 and it sounded great to all but the cops, I think it may have picked up a little more power as well without affecting the engine or computer.

 

cops are so hard to please these days

 

When I failed emissions, money was tight so I cut out the second cat and replaced it with an after market cat. I then cut a window in the front cat and gutted it with a screwdriver. Then had the window welded shut. This was a cheaper option for me than finding a replacement y-pipe with cats. FYI - the stock cat setup is quite restrictive, especially if they are original. Just replacing the cat made my truck louder.

 

cool never thought about doing that

 

You guys are always talking about 2 cats, what trucks have 2 on a stock exhaust system?..I have only seen 1 on any I have owned or looked at...............Is this a Calif. emissions extra?, someone enlighten me please.

 

BC, did you pass emissions after you gutted your cat? I'm thinking of doing the same thing to mine, but don't want to risk failing, which is a HUGE pain to deal with here in Connecticut. TIA,
Roger

 

There aren't actually 2 cats just a dual stage cat, 1 piece before the air pipe and 1 after. If a motor is in absolutely perfect running order it could potentially pass a sniffer test without a cat, but generally it's unlikely.

 

my truck had a short cat and a something like a resonator behinde it,well they are useless now cause i shoved a steel rod through them both and gutted them so they are dead

 

I did pass emissions with the front cat gutted and the back cat replaced with a large body universal replacement. I would have just removed the front cat as well but it's integrated into the y-pipe.

 

I have a 94 as well, with the 302, also have only one cat ..... Here in MI we don't have to test for emissions, not sure what the law is, believe if a vehicle is over 10 yrs old and it cost over a certain $$ that it is not required for us to replace the cat. If that is the case, wonder if a shop can legally just run a straight pipe ? Seems to me the last I looked, shops could get fined if caught for tampering, but individuals - perhaps a different story ??

 

I removed the Cat on my 97 and I actually think I lost low end Torque. I am going to have an after-market one put back on.

 

How do you remove the cat and just straight pipe it? I removed my cat last summer but dont see how you can do it since there is that flange plate that the cat bolts to. No pipe.

 

You have to have someone make a Y that will join the two into one 3inch or you can just go dual from there or cut from the cross over and go from there. I had a guy make mine