Exhaust
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 219
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well cutting the cat only causes issues if your state require it.
to hollow it out.
remove cat from exhaust, get a long "punch" its nice to be as long as the cat. get a hammer, use the two to bash out all the ceramic material inside of the cat. just keep breaking apart the chunks untill they fall out of the cat. just make sure you get all the pieces out of it.
then reinstall on exhaust. really not that hard just let your inner child come out and break stuff.(carefully, you dont want to hurt the shell)
i have done this while it is on the vehicle. and i do not advise in doing so it is a huge PITA.
to hollow it out.
remove cat from exhaust, get a long "punch" its nice to be as long as the cat. get a hammer, use the two to bash out all the ceramic material inside of the cat. just keep breaking apart the chunks untill they fall out of the cat. just make sure you get all the pieces out of it.
then reinstall on exhaust. really not that hard just let your inner child come out and break stuff.(carefully, you dont want to hurt the shell)
i have done this while it is on the vehicle. and i do not advise in doing so it is a huge PITA.
More Turbo
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 690
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From: Sweden
Few locations actually perform the smog testing from the tailpipe. It's not all on the basis of state, either. The county Austin, Tx is in does emissions testing, but not most of the rest of Tx.
Other places will test OBDII codes, and AFAIK the downstream sensor will read a cat error, but '87 isn't OBDII.
The catalyst you'd be breaking out is EXTREMELY valuable, more so than gold even. No kidding, the platinum is now $1500/ozt, palladium $475/ozt. These older cats are worth like $70-$130 even when recycled by mail (and they're probably ripping people off at that). This stuff didn't cost nearly so much in '87 and they use much, much less nowadays. And old platinum is just as good as new. It doesn't wear off.
But, AFAIK most or all states will fail a vehicle if the cat came with the vehicle but it has been removed. If they don't do emissions testing there's no way they'd know it was punched out.
Other places will test OBDII codes, and AFAIK the downstream sensor will read a cat error, but '87 isn't OBDII.
The catalyst you'd be breaking out is EXTREMELY valuable, more so than gold even. No kidding, the platinum is now $1500/ozt, palladium $475/ozt. These older cats are worth like $70-$130 even when recycled by mail (and they're probably ripping people off at that). This stuff didn't cost nearly so much in '87 and they use much, much less nowadays. And old platinum is just as good as new. It doesn't wear off.
But, AFAIK most or all states will fail a vehicle if the cat came with the vehicle but it has been removed. If they don't do emissions testing there's no way they'd know it was punched out.
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Senior User
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i cut mine out, then re-attached with adaptor of proper size. it may seem daunting at first but after you look at it and smash it out, it is easy as can be.
do you have a saws all? or an angle grinder w/cutting wheels? or at the very least a hack saw, (you will hate this if you have to use a hack saw though)
but as a thought to add onto what Dannym was saying yes it is $$ but the shell is worth nothing, its the stuff you are pulling out, and there are recyclers that would buy it. (after its busted out)
do you have a saws all? or an angle grinder w/cutting wheels? or at the very least a hack saw, (you will hate this if you have to use a hack saw though)
but as a thought to add onto what Dannym was saying yes it is $$ but the shell is worth nothing, its the stuff you are pulling out, and there are recyclers that would buy it. (after its busted out)
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More Turbo
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 690
Likes: 0
From: Sweden
The busted out shell is of course going to be worthless, and no one will buy it; they check for that.
The grid you'd bust out, you'd probably only get part of it. So some of it would remain in the cat and some would fall out. Only thing is, it's hard to assess the value at that point and they'll probably lowball you based on the uncertainty and risk they're taking.
What state are you in? Not California I assume? I think they've upgraded tampering with a cat to a death penalty crime.
The grid you'd bust out, you'd probably only get part of it. So some of it would remain in the cat and some would fall out. Only thing is, it's hard to assess the value at that point and they'll probably lowball you based on the uncertainty and risk they're taking.
What state are you in? Not California I assume? I think they've upgraded tampering with a cat to a death penalty crime.
More Turbo
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 690
Likes: 0
From: Sweden
Isn't that a front/rear dual cat system?
The two pipes may join at the cat itself, so it's not possible to replace it with a "pipe".
Magnaflow and Eastern Catalytic sell replacements for those with a modern high-flow single cat, it replaces all the rusted plumbing too. It's got pipes that "Y" into a single pipe THEN a normal cat with a single inlet.
I'd still encourage you to maintain a working catalytic converter system. Kinda responsible, IMHO. The emissions are pretty bad without it.
They could still bust you if you have a straight pipe even though it doesn't have to go through emissions testing. Visual inspection- no cat is fail. That's why people are saying to "bust it out", but I dislike the idea.
The two pipes may join at the cat itself, so it's not possible to replace it with a "pipe".
Magnaflow and Eastern Catalytic sell replacements for those with a modern high-flow single cat, it replaces all the rusted plumbing too. It's got pipes that "Y" into a single pipe THEN a normal cat with a single inlet.
I'd still encourage you to maintain a working catalytic converter system. Kinda responsible, IMHO. The emissions are pretty bad without it.
They could still bust you if you have a straight pipe even though it doesn't have to go through emissions testing. Visual inspection- no cat is fail. That's why people are saying to "bust it out", but I dislike the idea.
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 11,958
Likes: 228
If you wan a deep gurgle sound run a long glasspack at least 18 inch if not longer and just the front cat. Run 2.5 inch exhaust. Then if you want the look of duals put a Y on the glasspack and run 2 2.25 inch tail pipes with a pair of 3-3.5 inch tips. You can also buy glasspackst that already have a Y on them they are commonly called torpedo packs.