Gutting a Cat

[BOOSTD]

No, I'm not out to kill mittens. What I want to know is if it is possible to gut a catalitic (sp?) convertor so that it flows as well as a test pipe? Any ideas on how to do that? Is the material inside dangerous to handle/ inhale? The cat on my exhaust is 3" in diamiter and about 19" long. THIS SUCKER IS HUGE!! That thing has got to be causing some serious back pressure! Im getting my new transmission next saturday so money is kind of tight. Thats why I'm not buying a test pipe. Also, having a fake cat on the car is nice just incase an auto shop decides to snoop arround and see if I'm meeting emissions.

Thanks
BOOSTD

 

[equalizer442]

cut the cat off and weld flanges to the cat and the both ends of the exhaust pipe, then weld 2 flanges on to a test pipe. alot easier then gutting the cat and if you ever have emisions you can swap the cat back in with about 5 mins of your time

btw, theres nothing in there that will hurt you but i dont think i would try to eat it.

 

[jastrckl]

You wouldn't try it? Hrm. NO BALLS.


lol. j/k

 

[gn85]

First off, I've never gutted a cat. I've dropped a screwdriver in a few of them, but NEVER gutted one.

With that being said, I just recently had to put a high flow cat on because I wasn't passing emmsions with my fake cat. Since the car is in the US, and I'm here, I haven't driven the car yet to see if it does run any worse or not.

Still, I've dropped a screwdriver in mine and it seemed louder to me. Nothing in there is really harmful, but as said before... DO NOT EAT THIS! I've heard in conversation before that the best way to do a cat is to run a pipe through the middle that's the correct diameter so that essentially you have a straight pipe through the cat instead of exhaust gas pooling up in the empty cat. Once again, this was in conversation and I'm not certain as to the accuracy of this theory.

Putting a flange to go back and forth is also a good idea. I have a band type clamp on mine for that purpose.. but if my car seems to do well with the hi-flow cat, I'll leave it on.

 

[DKREDT]

I took my ATR 3" cat off and stood it on end in a box to catch all the crap and then beat it out with a very long, heavy duty screw driver.

I put on a dust mask just to be safe.

Works fine as a "legal" looking test pipe.




Joel

 

[bryguy]

gut a fish, cat & moose in 1 day!!!

I was told by a very reputable mech that owns and races GN's and a TTA that this was the absolute bang for the scrape...er uh..Buck!!! I crawled under the car lossend all the bolts and pried down the cat while still connected to the front pipe and headers...then with a screw driver & long piece of narrow hardwood & hammer I pounded the crap out of it and reached in pulling piece by piece out until there was dust left (very bloddy knuckler) I then started the car and revved it up to blow out the rest of the dust and put it back together. About 2 hours and a whole lot of sweat but major difference and not loud at all. ( I have hokker cat back exhaust.) P.S. it appears stock.
Bryan

 

[BOOSTD]

Well what a plesent suprise. NOT! It took me the better part of an hour and a countless number of profanities to get those four rusty bolts off. You ever seen those gattor grip sockets? Those things work great, especially on rusty and rounded bolts. Anyway, I get the cat off and low and behold...NOTHING. Someone had already cleaned out the convertor. I wish I had known that so I didnt have to spend so much time on nothing. Atleast it wasnt a bad suprise i guess.

Thanks for your info.

BOOSTD

 

[FastGN007]

Make sure you spray it down with water before hand or wear a respirator. When you gut the cat and the pieces fall out and when you rev the engine to blow it out, the dust is small pieces of metal. The metal in it will go in your lungs. The least exposure to it is the best. Gutting a lot of cats is a good way to guarantee lung cancer down the road!!!

Scott