Fluidplay

Ok, this is f'n frustrating. I need to get a new catalytic converter and there are no 3" in/out cats available under California's new emissions law...and all the web sights are stating they won't ship anything not approved to Ca. WTF!! Has anyone replaced theirs recently and what did you do?

JC951

try speed force racing...i think they have a cat

lart951

Yes, i had one of their 3" systems and it was a high flow cat that you could change to test pipe under 15 minutes.

Tom M'Guinn

I passed CA smog (rolling dyno) with the SFR 3" quick-change cat. I researched the rules and posted about them a while back. In a nutshell, pre-OBDII cars can use generic cats like the ones SFR sells, provided they are CARB approved (and the one I received from SFR was). My car also ran very clean with this cat, way below all limits.

PEvans

I got a cat manufactured by DEC. A number of parts places on line sell them. I expected that to last about 5 years, and judging from my recent test, it will not get me through the 4 year mark., Still, a resonable way to go.

I'm not sure about your size requirements. I do know my shop spent some time getting the "direct OEM replacement" to fit, so presumably the exhaust tubing is modifiable.

I though a direct OEM replacement was required in CA, but a lot of people have posted otherwise.

brad-cam

Note that the rules got stricter this year, specifying exact approved replacement part numbers per car for pre-OBDII, and from what I can tell the only approved cats for the 951 are 2.5" inlet/outlet now.

gt37vgt

So you can pass the smog test with an "illegal" one?? typical the people inforcing it don't understand the gear much like here ... I had dick head inspector at my local road authority tell me the factory waste gate pipe bypassing the cat was illegal . although...
so can't some one here send him one?? I will if you want but the post will be much more (AUS) but we do have good metal core 4" cats here

LUCKY DAVE

I have a 2.5" generic cat welded in a test pipe section I bolt in for smog. Who cares how small it is? It's not like you were going to leave it in there.......
btw: I'm in Kalifornia.

DanaT

Do the 3" cats rob much power over a test pipe? I am running no cat but really, cats help with cleaning up the air. The responsible thing would be to run a cat, I just dont want it to kill power.

-Dana

JC951

Cats period rob alot of power. I recently had to get a stock cat to put in to pass my test here in CT because the stock unit i had was gutted. Just barely passed the NOx test. was 37 ppm under the limit. Even on my low boost setting it felt like the car was cut down by maybe 30 hp. But in CT once a car hits 25 years old...no more testing needs to be done. Thank you vintage car status and hello to catbypass pipe and open wastegate dump

alxdgr8

Another reason why I will neverlive in CA
So glad I don't have to deal with emissions here

schip43

I used to be a smog tech in CA about 17 years ago. I'am a car guy so... Anyway I don't remember looking at a cat to check specs? Are they doing that now? I only looked under the car to see if it had a cat?

Now I know if you fail and have to go to a referee everything needs to be up to spec, cause they will go over the car with a fine tooth comb but short of that are you saying they check the specs on a cat?

Fluidplay

Tom, I looked at SFR set-up an it looks like it's fab'd to fit their test pipe. I have a LR 3" exhaust set-up. If it was available without the bolt up, I could have it welded up to some connecting 3" pipes pieces to slip into my set-up. I'l give them a call, maybe it can be shipped w/o the bolt on feature.

Lucky Dave are you using 2 1/2" throughout or stepping down from 3" at the cat? I was considering having a "cat section" made with an approved cat for the emissions test.

DanaT, there's a tremendous amount of power lost due to the cat. If your car is not running perfectly , overtime the cat will become clogged and HP will be greatly reduced. If the blockage is bad enough you can get some fairly damaging results to you engine due to back pressures.
I removed the exhuast pipe back from the turbo/exhaust tie-in and went for a drive...holy sh-t, it felt like a completely different car. Throttle response was quicker, turbo kicked in sooner and it sounded bad ***!! Honestly, it felt like an increased of at least 50hp.

DanaT

I have only had my cat on once (the one time I needed to pass emissions). It felt like it killed the power, but it is a stock cat.

I was thinking that with cars making 600hp now-a-days from the factory, there must be cats that don't kill the power. I have never run a cat, but the responsible thing to do would be to run one for cleaner air.

-Dana

Adonay

Sorry a bit off topic but i like these :-)

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/produ...b0e3f4729cbcdb

Not like they will help you with passing or anything though.