Indiana

Hi All,

I took my '87 944S in to my trusty mechanic to have a rattling noise inspected and was informed that I need a new catalytic converter. The cost estimate floored me: $1400 just for the PART!

I've had this mechanic for years and trust him. Once in a while, I've comparison shopped on the net in terms of parts pricing and found him reasonable. But this time it's different- Tonight I was surfing the net and found some cat prices that were in a totally different league- only around $400 at www.catalyticonverters.com and the same price at http://www.all-catalytic-converters....converter.html

My question is: Are these places reputable? Is there any catch, any reason why I shouldn't order from them and save $1000?

Also, can anyone recommend a specific reputable firm I should consider dealing with (which has those lower prices)?

Thanks very much for your help!

Indiana

Manning

1) Find a good muffler shop that has someone clued in to welding stainless.

2) Find out whether they would be willing to "custom" fit a new cat.

3) Find out what the inlet size is for the cat on your car. I am guessing just under 2 1/4 inches.

4) Buy the appropriate high flow universal cat from one of the online places.

5) take it to the muffler shop with your car (duh) and have the folks there fabricate, fit, expand, whatever to get it to fit well.

There, just saved you at least $250 in parts and some labor to boot. That is what I did when my cat gutted itself two weeks before absolute drop dead to get my emissions test done. The test turned out so well the inspector was left blinking in dismay because the scores were so good. He couldn't believe my car was an 88.

http://www.a-1performance.com/super_converter/super_converters.htm

Indiana

Thanks- Do you think that the cats from the links I mentioned- the ones selling for only $400- would take extra work to get installed (by my mechanic), or are they totally compatible with a factory unit?

Thanks,

Indiana

slevy951

I think the quote you got from your wrench was for a factory replacment. This is actually a whole middle section of the exhaust system and not just the cat itself. Manning has you on the right track. Doing it this way is defintely cheaper, but not "bolt-in".......

Red1

I bought a bolt-in replacement for my 951 for $440. I did the welded-in universal route on my other 951, but I didn't like the way it looked when it was done.

I had to make a lot of calls to locate a rebuilt direct-replacement. A lot of people had them advertised, but didn't have them in stock.

Devia

I would ask Travis, or Paragon, or some other sponsor; I was told $200, for one local here, so I think $400 is still too much!

- Julie

W88951

So, did you cat look anything like this???

Lost complete power in the car at 80mph slowed down, downshifted to fourth, looked in my rearview to switch lanes and saw the molten / glowing remant of the cat shoot out of my tailpipe and bounce down the highway.

Manning

I have done it both ways on this car. The first one I bought was right after the original cat cracked off at the front weld. I went online and ordered what was supposed to be a direct fit. I'm thinking I will see a cat with a Y pipe on one end and a flange on the other. I received a cat the size of a coffee can with a length of pipe on one end and a flange at the end of another piece of pipe on the other. The tubing was also about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch smaller than stock. Obviously their interpretation of direct fit was different than mine.

I subsequently replaced that with a used OE cat, which blew out after about a year.

That was replaced with the high flow universal, which I had welded onto my original Y pipe and added a length of tubing with a flange onto the other end. Yes, it does not look stock. In fact it looks kind of dopey, but I don't really expect too many people will be hanging out under my car admiring my exhaust. And if I was ever to start obsessing about it I would probably think about getting a prescription for Paxel.

Manning

That's what mine looked like. It blew out and glogged up the SuperTrapp muffler I was using at the time. I posted pictures of it about a year ago. I think I actually even have some chunks of molten matrix in my garage.

indiana_86_944_turbo

hay indiana were are you from in indiana? ft wayne here.

scott