pcar964

I have a '91 turbo with original catalytic converter, and was thinking of gutting it myself to keep from spending $$ on a straight pipe. Has anyone done this on a 964T? Anything I should be aware of? Stephen at Imagine Auto advised me that it would be fine, and I'm inclined to believe him! But I'm just wondering if it's a more difficult task than it seems, or if there would be a performance detriment due to additional turbulence in the exhaust?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, in case anyone is interested in my stock cat, please let me know before I start destroying it! For all I know it's just scrap, but maybe they are rare/valuable to someone, enough that I could partially offset the cost of a straight pipe...

FSCCA

It won't sound good because of the big hollow chamber; kind of tinny.

I bought a cat pipe for $100 on ebay.

pcar964

I've found that 964T parts are pretty scarce on ebay, nothing listed right now. Have you heard it in person with a gutted cat, or in general do cars just sound "tinny" with gutted cats due to the big hollow chamber?

Frank 993 C4S

I think you'd be better off keeping the cat handy, just in case you ever want to sell the car to someone who might have to pass a smog test with it.

pcar964

I think I'll be holding on to this one for quite some time

Do you think there is any downside, apart from losing the ability to replace the cat, to gutting it?

X-1

Wear a dustmask; platinum dust is extremely carcinogenic. Lots of guys in my previous car community did their own gutting, and a few got sick.
I'd second the "get another muffler" opinion. Actually come to think of it, I have a straightpipe I probably won't ever use if you're interested.

Boeing 717

Hey Pcar i gutted my 944 cat with no ill results for what its worth.

pcar964

Thanks for the safety tip, good to know!

I sent you a PM

cobalt

I purchased a W/G cat and a set of exhaust tips on Ebay for $100. You can easily remove the ceramic core by breaking it up. I did it in under 10 min,. I kept my original in case I put the car back to stock. I would assume the main cat would be a bit more work.

I would agree with the precautions since they do contain Palladium, Platinum, Rhodium, Cerium and Manganese.

Y65MPH

It is hardly worth gutting the cat when a test pipe is so cheap. The replacement cost of the cat (if you ever need it) will be far more then the cost of the pipe.

Turbo Jonny

If you want weight reduction as well its a no-brainer.Get a bypass pipe.

pcar964

Can someone point me in the direction of a reasonably-priced bypass pipe? $450 for the Fabspeed seems a little steep considering it's just a straight piece of pipe.

cobalt

If your going to go with a bypass pipe why not just drop the cat and muffler and replace it with an aftermarket muffler. My muffler wasn't much more than a bypass pipe, sounds better and weighs a hell of a lot less than the stock muffler.

Although in some states like NJ it is a crime to eliminate the cat and if caught can result in a $1000 a year fine since the last date of inspection and possible impound of your car if they decide to bust your *****. I could care less about the fine but if they impound my car, who knows what I would get back.

pcar964

Here in sunny Florida there's no emissions testing, so I'm fine there. However, I want to keep the car relatively quiet so an aftermarket muffler isn't in the cards. From what I understand, the stock muffler is very good and there isn't much power to be gained there - all the power gain comes from the cat removal. Best of both worlds for me, gains power and stays quiet by just removing the cat.

cobalt

My car is actually as quiet or even quieter than running the cat and muffler bypass. It is a nice sound that is not much louder than some new cars are today. The advantage is you can hear what is going on and there is the traditional turbo burble on lift off. I think if you go with a cat bypass you will find the differences would be minimal db wise but you would still retain that brick of a muffler hanging over the rear wheels.