Well folks it looks like I need a new catalytic converter. It's totally shot. The bitch is rattling like crazy plus I could tell it was going when It barely passed emissions like 4 months ago. I've been leaning towards getting a high-flow cat....would one of those be useful at all or will i just be wasting my money? Also it would be great if somebody could point me to a place to find a good deal on a OE cat, money is an issue. And nobody makes test pipes for the S, plus I wouldn't want one they sound like *** on an n/a.

Oh and my a/c drive belt broke today so i gotta fix it as well, even though the a/c doesnt work..........The broken belt sounds like death.

This is where it all starts isn't it... more and more problems and stuff.... The money pit is getting deeper....

 

they sound like *** on an n/a?

 

the ones ive heard didnt have mufflers, it had a very "canny sound" at high rpm....

Keep in mind they were race cars... I dunno how much difference that makes

 

Good question. My 83 had the original cat replaced after I hit a piece of pipe on the highway. The replacements I was able to find were considerably smaller than OE and didn't last long before melting apart. Maybe because the car was running a bit rich at the time. If I had to do it again, I would definitely get a high flow cat.

 

I would also have to get custom piping welded right? 'cause they are much shorter than the OE cat.
Custom = expensive

 

Also would a high-flow cat give me enough backpressure to keep everything sound?

 

A friend called Performance Imports to get his '87 944 S cat replaced and was happy with their offer.

No affiliation with them, just passing info along.

hrk

 

Isn't the OE cat basically a high flow unit? I mean the thing is huge.

I wouldn't worry about the welding costing you more. Most shops sell the cat installed because they are required by law to report the substitution of the new unit for the old one.

AFAIK, only OE will bolt on, anyway. Problem is, they're extremely expensive -IIRC close to $1K.

 

Is this what the cat was doing when you shot him?

 

That what the one I shot looked like.. LOL

a little ot.. I need to get my entire exhaust system off- What is the Best method for jacking so I have enough room to work under it- The 944 wont fit on any ramps, I cant rent a lift- insurance problems with the shop.. I need to get it a foot or so into the air.. Any Ideas without buying a lift??

BTW- I dropped my complete exhaust system on the way to hershey- cat back. I dragged it a little way, a mile or so, and managed to sand a couple od small holes into the cat. I have since filled them with some exhaust patch and so far have seen no degredation in catalytic operation.. weird huh.
Hence the question about a secure way to get the entire car off of the ground with the stability to wrench on it.

 

Get a hydraulic floorjack with a low profile jack piece. Then get yourself 4 2-ton jackstands. Total cost should be $50-$150 depending on how nice a jack you get, and you should be able to do whatever you need to do underneath your car (I was able to pull my oilpan off using this method).

I have a mini floorjack that fits under my car...I use this if I am just changing a tire or something...otherwise I use the mini jack to lift my car up enough so I can fit my full sized SUV floorjack under the car and I can lift the car up to 2 feet. HTH...

 

Thanks Rich- Just what I was looking for!! I had toyed with the roll- around supports, but no leverage!

I'm gettting tired of my old method..

1. find a deep, steep sided culvert...

 

I had a clogged cat last year, two weeks before my birthday, also known as two weeks before the last day I could get an e-check and renew my tag.

So I ordered a high flow universal and had a shop in town weld it to my Y pipe and them fit another section of pipe with a flange to the other side so it would all bolt up to my exhaust. The car feels great and it got such good scores on the e-check that the guy who did the inspection was shocked that the car was 14 years old.

http://www.a-1performance.com/super_...converters.htm

Oh yeah, the cat was like $120.00 including shipping and the muffler shop charged like $30.00 to weld everything up.

 

I had a completely custom 3" exhaust built around this header I got for $100.00. they included a new cat, which seriously, is about 5"x8" at most. it's tiny! they also welded in a resonator (too loud, the 3" exhaust...) and a brand new muffler for $700.00. Custom isn't always expensive. a full fabricated exhaust with a resonator, a catalytic converter, and even a magnaflow muffler cost $700.00. I thought it was DAMN cheap for what it was.

 

thanks for the tips guys, I'm gonna go with a high flow