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The WS6 Store came through. I think I’ll receive the o2 simulators tomorrow. On Saturday I’m going to take my car in to have the $30 a pair cats welded in. I hope they dont rip me a new one.
I dropped it off at the muffler shop and he called me back a short time later saying he’s not going to be able to put the universal cats in. He says no room to cut and weld. The delima continues. FML. I did get the sims plugged in last nite so at least I dont have to keep clearing the light.
Sucks.
I dropped it off at the muffler shop and he called me back a short time later saying he’s not going to be able to put the universal cats in. He says no room to cut and weld. The delima continues. FML. I did get the sims plugged in last nite so at least I dont have to keep clearing the light.
Sucks.
The word you're looking for is DILEMMA.... previous jabs about it went clear over your head,,,,
I did get the sims plugged in last nite so at least I dont have to keep clearing the light.
At least this is good news.
At this point, I would just return the universal cats and go with an ORY/cat delete if the substrate is breaking up inside the cat shell. But that's just me, I'm not a cat person.
The word you're looking for is DILEMMA.... previous jabs about it went clear over your head,,,,
Spelling and grammar aside, “I told y’all so.” Universal high flow’s were a no go.
I suppose someone could make it work but I don’t think I’m going to find a guy.
So the DILEMMA ENEMA continues. I sure wish that GM didn’t put the cats right off the exhaust manifold like they did. Wish in one hand and crap in the other I guess. If I could find a pair of oem cats cheap enough I might would hollow them out and bring them back up to the guy to put on. I don’t want to get stuck with broken bolts in my driveway or else I’d hollow out the ones on it now.
It sounds to me like that muffler shop, some kind of meineke like place, just didn't want to hassle with it. How big were the universal cats you bought?
I don’t want to unbolt anything really. I don’t want to risk breaking bolts in the driveway. What I want to do is order a set of of those universal cylinderical cats and then have a shop weld them in. Will the typical cut, splice, & weld work with that style of cat with the stock 4th gen f body exhaust? Or will they tell me that there isn’t any room to cut and splice? Would they could they add a section of pipe where the oem cats were and then put the universals in further back? Can these be made to work with the stock 4th gen exhaust w/out reinventing the wheel?
For $36 I doubt they have much of precious metals in them, and they don't even bother to list the cell count. Get something at least 400 cell count if you want any hope of them working.
It sounds to me like that muffler shop, some kind of meineke like place, just didn't want to hassle with it. How big were the universal cats you bought?
It was a “real” muffler sho not a meineke. But yeah he didn’t want to mess with it once he saw that it wasn’t going to be just a cut and weld. On the phone he gave me a $150 labor estimate and once he saw it I bet he was like, “oh sht.” I think he was thinking it was the typical cat in an H Pipe situation I guess. I asked him if he could just remove them and he said they’re not allowed to remove or move them. I don’t think that’s all that true here but he didn’t want to mess with it at any rate. I bet if I had some “test pipes” that would bolt in he might would’ve done it but he didn’t want to wrestle the universal in. They’re 11” long by the way but there’s a bit of “lead pipe” that one could cut off if they had to.
No one wants to fabricate Lee.
At this point, I would just return the universal cats and go with an ORY/cat delete if the substrate is breaking up inside the cat shell. But that's just me, I'm not a cat person.
If I was 100% certain that it was breaking apart it’d be easier to decide what to do I guess. If it was I might would just replace clogged one with a bolt-on oem. Is there a “bolt-on” route to go cat-less with the stock manifolds? The place I was at today which I think is the most lenient in town said he couldn’t cut off the cat. But I think he was just trying to get me out of the door.
Since I’m just “throwing parts at it” I was justifying doing so by using high flow cats so just incase it didn’t fix the problem at least it’d sound a little louder. Plus no cat-less stink. The oem cats cost too much to want to gamble if one is clogged or not because if it wasn’t there wouldn’t be an upside, ie more rumble.
For $36 I doubt they have much of precious metals in them, and they don't even bother to list the cell count. Get something at least 400 cell count if you want any hope of them working.
And always check the reviews:
I‘ve used and passed the smog sniffer with China cats before with a supercharger OBDI vehicle that only has a WOT dyno tune none the less. I don’t expect them to last 100k miles but they’d probably last long enough. I don’t have to pass a smog test anymore but I’d still prefer the smell with cats vs without. If I could get a broom handle inside the cats with them attached to the collector I might would do that. Magnaflow bolt-in high flows are $360 each and that’s way too much for cats. Aftermarket OEM’s are about $200 each which isn’t a very fun option. Especially if it turns out one isn’t clogged. 😂
Is there a “bolt-on” route to go cat-less with the stock manifolds?
A company called Mufflex used to make cat bypass pipes to fit the stock 2000-02 manifolds, it was a simple bolt-in and they fit very well (proper ball flange on the other end to connect to the factory Y-pipe). I installed a set of these on my '00 WS6 before I got headers. I actually still have them in storage somewhere, but I'm saving them in case I ever want to convert my '98 to a 2000+ modular exhaust setup (I've had all the parts to do this for 20+ years, I just haven't been motivated yet... ). I bet other folks still have sets of these laying around too though; maybe put up a WTB ad and/or check Ebay, FB, etc... "Mufflex cat bypass pipes, 2000-02 LS1 F-body". I wonder if Mufflex still has the jig/specs to make this, and what they would charge to do so? I guess you could always reach out to them.
Originally Posted by Y2K_Frenzy
Plus no cat-less stink.
It doesn't smell that strong with a stock cam, no big deal at all really. Mine was barely noticeable to me until I put an aftermarket cam in. On that note, I'll be driving my '71 with a built 355ci to a cruise night in about an hour and I'll be enjoying every moment of the glorious catless aroma!
You don't need any of that. Just someone willing to unbolt the stock cats from the manifolds. Tack in the new cats, check to be sure things clear by reinstalling them loosely, ensuring things are in the right position and clocked correctly, then completing the welds on the bench. If the person wants to be precise about it, build a jig out of square tubing to hold things in place while welding. Yes, the heat cycled studs and nuts are going to be a pain, and might need encouragement, I broke two on one effort, and had to remove the manifolds to drill out what remained.
Your muffler shop guy handed it over to Larry the welder, decided there wasn't money to made in the deal, especially since he has to unbolt the cats first, and told you to move it along while he waived a honda in to bay 3. My guess is he only wants to deal with by the numbers stuff in the book - and you didn't fit the bill. There is no getting around the fact, mufflex solution mentioned early or the one you just posted, someone is going to have to run the risk of a broken stud - use an oxy torch, if they can get it up there, to persuade things along.
. There is no getting around the fact, mufflex solution mentioned early or the one you just posted, someone is going to have to run the risk of a broken stud - use an oxy torch, if they can get it up there, to persuade things along.
Yeah Larry the welder said all he could do was a bolt in style due to this that and the other which brings us back to broken bolts.
I took the temp of the cats and the suspect cat which is the drivers side was cooler than the passenger side. The code it throws is always P0420 & the vibrations and rattle come from the drivers side as well. So I was expecting the drivers side to be hotter due a possible clog but that wasn’t the case.
Cooler could mean that side is seeing more fuel on that bank. Do you have a tool to see the LTFTs for each bank? Have you looked at the spark plugs? Exhaust leak near the O2 sensor could make the engine think it's lean on that bank and richen up the mixture. Or could be a leaky injector.
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My concerns were correct 
Universal high flow’s were a no go.
