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Old Apr 13, 2006 | 11:07 AM
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I am thinking about gutting cats. I will keep all original exhaust on stock 2001 ws6 m6. I will put in highflow cats with new exhaust down the road. But currently one cat clogged I think and don't want to spend money on another set of stock cats.

Can I just unbolt the pipe and smash out the inside of the cat and replace pipe with basically just a shell of a cat back on car? I know I will need to buy sims


Thoughts?

Thanks
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Old Apr 13, 2006 | 11:15 AM
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I'd just get a pipe welded in place of it, I heard that gutting cats can harm the car instead of giving it power. I'd get the rear 02's deleted, better than sims IMO.
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Old Apr 13, 2006 | 12:18 PM
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I welded 2 pipes in place of the cats of my camaro, and to be honest with you, it doesn't help or harm the performance of the car,the car sounds louder and it smells like unburned gas everytime I'm at a stop light.
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Old Apr 13, 2006 | 08:22 PM
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i picked up 5 hp on the dyno now granted it could have been the conditions (example: weather) but it was pretty freaking easy and it made the car sound alot cooler atleast i thought it did.
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Old Apr 14, 2006 | 11:35 AM
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To get the rear 02s deleted, what do I need for that. I am looking for the cheapest way here and also I don't want to delete something I can't get back because I still have a warranty.

But so is it true if I went with sims, just unbolt pipes and smash out inside with a bar of some sort then reinstall? Thats it?
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Old Apr 14, 2006 | 01:34 PM
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Cats have like a 8 year warrenty just take it to the dealer and get them changed for free!
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Old Apr 15, 2006 | 12:26 AM
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Originally Posted by LS1 GG
Cats have like a 8 year warrenty just take it to the dealer and get them changed for free!

That's true. It's a federal law that the manufacture warranties that cats for like 7-10 years. Not sure on the years, but I know it's way past the 3 years that GM gives the car. I personal would gut them though
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Old Apr 15, 2006 | 03:35 PM
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Yes you can just smash all that ceramic **** out with a screwdriver or similar device. It will make your car sound a lot louder and more raspy. I think it'll sound like ***. The hp gains will be minimal.
If you have to pass a visual inspection due to emissions it's a good idea to go that route. That way your cat housings will still be in place, they won't know that it's hollow.
To actually have the rear O2s deleted you could just replace them with O2 sims, like you already said.
Or if you don't like to screw around and get things done the right way you can actually delete them with tuner software. That is if you know how to work that tuning software.
I got mine deleted when I got the car dyno tuned.
Rear O2s are an emmision only thing. Having them or not having them will not influence the performance of your car.
Engine management relies on your front O2s.

Last edited by meatfoam; Apr 15, 2006 at 03:41 PM.
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Old Apr 17, 2006 | 11:04 AM
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I tired to have the cats replaced at the dealer but am getting no codes so they said nothing is wrong.
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Old Apr 17, 2006 | 04:33 PM
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i just gutted my girlfriends cats on her 2000 t/a. it's easy if you have a lift. it took me an hour. the time consoming part was gutting the cats. taken them off and putting them back up is easy. make sure you spray the studs/bolts from the bottom of the cat to the y. there known to snap. i bought gaskets for the manifold to y-pipe but i didn't need them because the old gaskets didn't come apart. i just used a little rtv and reused them. no problems/leaks. make sure you have a 15mm swivle socket also(makes things easier on some of the bolts). take the o2 sensors off the cats before you hack them (you'll F them up). an impact gun will take the bolts off the easiest without breakin the studs also. check your warrenty booklet with your owners manual for the cat replacement. i do think it's seven years 100,000 miles. good luck
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Old Apr 17, 2006 | 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted by N20LS1
I welded 2 pipes in place of the cats of my camaro, and to be honest with you, it doesn't help or harm the performance of the car,the car sounds louder and it smells like unburned gas everytime I'm at a stop light.
Thats pretty much been my experience with gutted cats/removed cats. I've heard that a quality/high flow cat flows just about as well as a straight pipe. A gutted cat will actually flow worse than if the ceramics were still in place, since the hollow box in the exhaust ruins the airflow. The unburnt gas smell also isn't very pleasent.

Best thing to do if your cats are clogged is to replace them with high flow units, like Magnaflow. Gut them temporarily so you don't mess up the engine, and then buy a couple high flows as replacements.
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