i have a 95 Z28 it has 3" bandrel bends from the stock cat. back to a flowmaster which then exits in 2 1/2"...i've been smeeling a funky smell, which many ppl have told me it might be the cat. so should i elimanate it, or have it replace...will there be a performance increase/decrease...and will it be louder!?

another question...
i want to install a lower temp thermostat, i dont have many mods..tb bypass, free flowing exhaust, maf screen removed, and k&n open elment air filter...should i go with the 160? or the 180?

thanks again,
steve

 

if you smell rotten eggs, its the cat. Replace it with a high flow cat if you have emmisions. if not, just get a pipe welded in place of it.

 

I personally love the way cats smell as opossed to raw fumes, went without for a while then went with a highflow cat, you can get a soundcat for 50 bucks on Ebay, and they flow really well, one of the best, plus you will have the peace of mind knowing your legal, and still able to make great power, plus cleaning the environment. They also weight about half the weight of the stock cat. you'll not feel any difference between no cat and hi flow cat, you might lose 2 horses, nothing that will affect your performance times

 

I just took down the Ypipe with the cat, put a long screw driver in there and took a hammer to it a few times. Lost some torque on the bottom end, but the freeway pull is unmistakable. Pulls really hard after 4000RPM. Here are some pics of the process

Link for cat removal

 

so its a good idea to delet the cat?...the only notice is a small loss in bottom end power? i have enough mods to make up for that.

so i should give it a go?

thanks for your replies,
steve

 

One thing to note is that without a cat, if you don't drive long enough to send the pcm into closed loop you will have a smell of fuel that has not completely combusted. I have that, reminds me of my old truck, but then again I don't mind.

 

i want more performance...and to get rid of the funky smell...and what do you mean by closed loop?

so should i delet it...or leave it be?

thanks again,
steve

 

Say they hell with it and get rid of it.

 

gut it and enjoy!!! I dont have cats and my car has great low end torque? Oh mabey it's the stall that helps me there
And yes it does get louder with out cats!

 

NAH YA DONT NEED CATS TO RUN ,,,,, DO THE 1LE BIT ....DELETE IT....YOU"LL NEED A BIGGER POCKET CAUSE OF THE FUEL YOUR GONNA BURN. take the next step punch the dang thing and have fun doing it YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE so enjoy all you can do to your toy

 

pro- more power, lower ET's, higher traps

cons- makes passing emissions questionable (if u even need to worry about it), smell of fumes.

all in all, i say ditch the cat!!!

 

hey guys thanks alot...i'll be removing the cat. this weekend!

thanks for the advice,
steve

 

Just wondering how much more popping/backfire will I notice without a cat vs. the Magnaflow w/ cat I installed a few weeks ago? I'd like my exhaust louder, but don't want to sacrifice too much sound quality for loudness. Plan on JetHot Lt's in coming months...any advice appreciated

 

I'm noticed a small drop in upper RPM power when i got my cam put on and been driving it around. I ran REALLY rich when i first had the cam in, so I'm afraid my car is losing some power at upper RPMS cuz it may be clogged.

I plan on ditching the cat, hoping it will solve the problem.

 

Can you gut the cat out when the y-pipe is still on the car? Or will crap get stuck in the y-pipe?