I'm getting ready to put a SLP loudmouth kit on my Z and I'm wondering if I can remove the cats on the car without messing it up. Is there anything I need to do or will it be ok?

 

be sure to check your local laws first, because its bad to do something illegal. but if your state is OK with it, removing the cats will increase sound, by making it deeper and louder, then it might pick up between 1-4 HP. It will throw a code for the rear O2's unless you get sims put in, but otherwise, it wont hurt a thing.

 

Except your car is going to smell like rotten eggs! It is illegal in all 50 states to remove any polution control devices. The fine for a shop caught removing cats is $100K, so be wary of any shop that tells you it's OK to remove the cats. You can gut the cats and make them functionally neutered without breaking any laws though!

 

Actually tampering with or altering smog equipment to make it inoperable is just as illegal as removing the part.

Plus by gutting the cats you have effectively made a large open space in your exhaust stream. This causes turbulance and loss of velocity.

Madmat, LM's sounds like a$$ w/out cats anyway.

 

Depending on what state you live in, taking off the cat is a great idea. It is not illegal in ALL 50 states. Removing emmisions devices does not make your car smell like rotten eggs. WTF. I have had my cat off of my car with LT's and an exhaust cut out for over a year. No bad smell. It will give your car a deeper exhaust note, and pump out some extra ponies.

There is nothing that you need to do, except take it to a local shop, not a name brand shop. Tell them you want them to take off the cat and weld in a straight pipe in its place, the same size as the rest of your exhaust.

 

Its part of a FEDERAL law called the Clean Air Act so yes it is illegal in ALL 50 states. In fact, even moving the cats from the stock location is a violation of said FEDERAL law.

Check out Section 203 of the Clean Air Act, 42 US Code, Section 7522
Illegality of tampering with emissions equipment:
...for any person to remove or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in compliance with regulations under this subchapter prior to its sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser, or for any manufacturer or dealer knowingly to remove or render inoperative any such device or element of design after such sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser....

Illegality of getting a shop to remove the equipment:
...for any person engaged in the business of repairing, servicing, selling, leasing, or trading motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines, or who operates a fleet of motor vehicles, knowingly to remove or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in compliance with regulations under this subchapter following its sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser....
The fine for this is up to $25000 for each violation.

There is no question about it being illegal. Instead the question is whether or not your state enforces this. From what I've seen, all it take is one cop who knows cars and wants to be gungho and you will be paying a nice fine. Not to mention, unless your state doesn't have any anual inspection your car will fail unless you have some tuning or O2 sims.

And since you live in FL, here is a nice little hand out that your state has about this.
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/Air/publi...ar_handout.doc

So do you still want to support your claims about the legality of messing with your cats?

 

Alright Greed4Speed, Mr. Enviornmental Specialist, I guess I didn't read far enough into the federal laws as you did. I have other things to do. As far as messing with my cat goes I dont have any problems with the legality of it. Florida doesnt have any anual emissions testing, (yes i do have rear 02 sims and a tune), so unless a cop wants to look under someones car, which I haven't heard of yet, I still think taking off the cat is a GREAT idea.

Why is it then that aftermarket parts companies sell 02 sims so anyone can take off their cat. Or why tuning shops will gladly delete your emissions codes from the computer without even asking. I dont hear of any tuning shops getting fined for deleting codes.

Most likely more than half of the people that visit this forum do not have, or they know someone that does not have a cat, or any other type of emissions device on their car.

So, as to madmatt6988, go ahead, take off your cat, enjoy the extra sound.

 

I wasn't really worried about it being illegal anyway. If you have a Camaro and you haven't broke the law atleast once, you should sell it and buy a minivan! It is illegal to have them removed in Ky where I live, but that doesn't stop people from doing it. Cops around here are asses but they don't inspect the undercarriage of your car, unless you really **** them off I guess. Thanks for the information. I guess I'll be getting me some O2 sims and say goodbye to the cats.

 

Actually, I have a piece of paper that says I am. BS in Environmental Management.

The producers of O2 sims and tuners get away with it by saying "off road." Just like "off road" Y's.

My car isn't legal either. !AIR, !EGR, non-compliant cam, and moved cats. I'm just not saying it is legal, but it does pass state inspection in TX.

I've also been around cars long enough to have seen cops search cars just looking for something to write up. I've even had them search my cars before. It'll take one that knows the engine to notice the !EGR and !AIR and to know the cats aren't in the stock location though, where as !cats is going to be obvious to any cop with a minor knowlege of cars.

If you want to go !cats then thats your choice. I just didn't like someone being told it is legal when it isn't.

 

Every state is adopting stricter emission's standards and testing. So don't be surprised if your state does start looking for the cats during inspection. They do in NJ and PA is adopting the tougher inspection as well. Lots of guys are gonna be in big trouble if caught without cats. And cops in NJ will stop you and check to see if you have cats. It's pretty obvious to hear and smell when a car has been modified. Pypes sells compact 3" cats for under $60 each so if you're worried about making power then go with something like that. Taking cats off just to make your car louder doesn't make any sense.

 

Well I'm glad to be living in Oklahoma for the first time. We dont have inspections or any emission starndards other than fed regulations.

 

Ya, and they don't enforce them either. I miss not having a front tag and no inspections.

 

What are these cats and front tags you speak of?

J/k, those are just a few things that I'm willing to risk getting in trouble for. Thank God for no emissions tests.

Edit: For the op, I would probably leave the cats on with the LM, it'll be ridiculously raspy if you take them off. Then again, LMs are pretty raspy anyway.