Looking for some catalytic converter info

[pontiacgp]

You mean that the enforcement officers never noticed all those empty JB Weld tubes all over your trunk or the 'Sponsored by JB Weld' stickers on your fenders?

I used the JB weld putty and it holds really well

 

[pontiacgp]

Don't you have a totally alien motor, like a 350 or a Big Block in your GP? If they don't catch you, what do they catch?

SBC 355 with vortec heads so there is no EGR ports in the head. I was pulled over by the enforcement in my 89 Pathfinder once that was completely stock. What can you do with a shitty little Pathfinder....

 

[clean8485]

Boy, do I ever understand all of this. I'm in California, with smog inspection every two years forever. And hooboy, is it a *bit* more complicated here than anything you could possibly cram into a forum post.

It's amazing that you actually have special "enforcement officers" who are out on the roadways pulling people over. Not that I dispute efforts to control pollution, I just haven't seen that anything is very effective, beyond the manufacturing requirements for the car makers (which have been effective .... aside from the VW scandal, that is).

For the most part, the enforcement officers tend to target older vehicles, or vehicles which appear to be modified. I know of a local person who built a 1930 Ford Model A "rat rod", with a small block Chev in it. He was pulled over by the Ministry of the Environment, with the local police as a backup, and he was taken directly to a local township garage, where the engine in his car was decoded from both the casting and the stamping numbers, by the Ministry people. They determined that the engine originally came out of a 1987 Chev truck, and the owner ended up having to retrofit the correct emission controls for the 1987 engine to the car.
As PontiacGP has pointed out though, most of the time, all they're looking for, are the proper emission control devices which appear to be connected and functional.

 

[clean8485]

Ok so hollow them out with a pry bar and weld the a.i.r. tubes.

In my particular case, because of the engine and the catalytic converter that I have here, I don't think that there would be any appreciable difference in exhaust restriction or vehicle performance between running the converter in good condition, or hollowing it out. Besides, personally, given the choice, I'd rather try to be friendly to the environment.

 

[ed1948]

Re: JB Weld - I use it.
From what I've read, the air injected into the cat only helps to make it work more efficiently.

 

[Clarmo]

These from Vibrant aren't the cheapest but they are a very nice piece. If you are looking for performance high flow Cats.

http://vibrantperformance.com/catal..._1111&osCsid=a8f2d9e7fe1bd89a3c6b0894daa6850b

 

[axisg]

I put some hi-temp silicone in the tube of my cat and folded the tube over itself a couple times. You wont hurt anything by blocking it off

 

[565bbchevy]

Summit sells the Vibrant for $109 as well as some other hi flow universal ones for well under $100.
I would have to imagine that most aftermarket hi flow catalytic's will be a big improvement over a 30+ year old designed used one regardless of how good of shape it is in.

 

[clean8485]

As I have stated several times already, I don't intend to spend any extra money for an exhaust system that won't be on the car for a long period of time. By the time I purchase a new low restriction converter, and get it fitted onto the car, I'm probably looking at an extra $100-$200. Its not a race car, with a race engine. Its a hobby car, that will see limited use and limited mileage.
The purpose of me starting this thread was to try to find out whether or not running the converter that I have here with the A.I.R. tube disconnected would cause any damage/issues. The concensus seems to be that it will be fine.
Thanks again to everyone for their help and input.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

There is some misunderstanding in this thread. The stock MCSS converter is a 3 way converter, a older design one that requires air injection to lean it out to make it burn pollutants correctly. OBD2 cars use air fuel mixture oscillation between lean and rich instead of air injection. Modern universal cats are designed for OBD2 efi, not pre OBD carbed cars. Most high flow cats do not flow more than stocker, the ones that do flow more is because they have less substrates and clean the exhaust less well. Similar to high flow air filters that filter more poorly than stock ones. A stock SS converter is already a wide mouth high flow unit, a aftermarket performance version is just a overpriced stocker replacement.