I have an 86 GT, and the motor seems to be a bit "exhausted." My mechanic sez it's a clogged cat converter. He recommends a custom exhaust system, delete the cat. Any suggestions where to get one? How far back should I go? All the way to the exhaust manifold, or just to where the deleted cat used to be?
you came to the right ppl. We dont have emissions checks here, check your state. for low budget exhaust , walker makes a good low cost system. if you can gut the cat and add that system on to yours . only one weld or clamp to work with. The fireo store or west coast fieros sells anything you would want also.
Everyone in this forum. Years and years of knowledge compiled in one place and people willing to help you solve your problem. Ive not had a problem these people havent seen a hundred times and if its something new they will help you solve it.
hes in NY so im pretty sure he has to have a CAT. where i live we can run without one and on street rods they run zoomies or open headers. SO and PD doesnt really mind as long as your not scaring grannys or showing your ass. but in Towns like Ft smith , little rock and conway your just asking for the bluelight treatment
cut the Cat, install either a new cat or a glasspack (2" in, 2" out ,25" Long) ($23) in it's place. Spending $$ on exhaust for a 2.8 won't do ALOT unless you "Port the exhaust Manifolds", the main "bottleneck" on the 2.8 design. Do a "search" here, been covered MANY Times.
NY usually requires a cat. When my cat blew my mechanic replaced it with a Magnaflow universal one ($160). The shops can get in a world of hursts not replacing the cat in a car that had one.
I would cut the cat off, knock the inside out, weld the cat back on. that is the only way to pass the visual inspection. You may also have a bad muffler. The rest of the exhaust is pretty straight forward.
Putting a whole new exhaust on the car WILL help give you extra horse power, but only because it is causing a weight reduction (in your wallet)...
Just put a new cat on it. No need to exacerbate the heat death of the world. And regardless of whether emissions inspections exist in your area or not, it is still illegal to remove or gut the cat, on a street vehicle that was manufactured with one on it.
Street rods get away with having nothing because they were manufactured before we even had interstates, let alone anyone caring about the environment. Only two things people worried about in the 20s/30s were surviving the Great Depression, and Germans.
The same in Ontario, but if you read the regulations you'll likely find that you still have to pass a visual inspection if you are pulled over. This includes the anti-smog equipment the car came with. In Ontario it is not lawful to remove the smog stuff no matter what the year.
New York State emmisions inspection not done with 25 year or older cars.
And irrelevant. The "25 year or older" really only applies if your getting Antique plates. Also, it's almost certainly true that removal of the cat, or just gutting it, is illegal regardless of year, on a vehicle that was equipped with one from the factory. In fact, I'm pretty sure Federal regulations make that true across the entire country. Most state laws re-iterate it, in the Motor Vehicles section of their state code, under the noise regulations.
Down around here when it comes to laws the unspoken word it the three s theory (shoot 'em shovel 'em and shut up) now that can be applied to most everything in one form or another. To gut the cat cut a panel out of a portion (the smaller the better) gut it and reweld the panel and install it to where the cut panel is not visable. If they hook it up to do emissions though you are done anyhow. Here you don't have to be sneaky if you know the right people and have a little beer on hand or extra cash lol. Hope you get the issue solved and free up that powah!
Keep the cat, just gut it. It will at last look legal, but still be louder than stock.
A couple of hits with a BFH (Big Firm Hammer) "gutted" my clogged cat. I will be installing a resonator that to the untrained eye has the look of a cat. Emissions are not required for cars over 25 years in VA but sometimes a visual inspection is done.
Originally posted by steve308: A couple of hits with a BFH (Big Firm Hammer) "gutted" my clogged cat. I will be installing a resonator that to the untrained eye has the look of a cat. Emissions are not required for cars over 25 years in VA but sometimes a visual inspection is done.
In VA emissions checks are only done in a few areas up near DC. The 25 year number is irrelevant if you have regular plates. With regular plates, state inspections are required every year.
I don't know why anyone would want to gut the cat or pull it on a 2.8 anyway. It's more than loud enough with a complete exhaust on the thing. And a straight pipe or gutted cat isn't going to give you any performance benefit over stock, without significant changes elsewhere to the exhaust, and the intake.
From VA •Motor vehicles exempted from emissions inspections include: ◦Gasoline powered passenger or property carrying vehicles with a model year that is more than 25 years old before January 1 of the current calendar year. As an example, vehicles with a model year of 1984 are exempt from emissions on or after January 1, 2009; vehicles with a model year of 1985 will be exempt from emissions on or after January 1, 2010.Vehicles 25 years old or older qualify as antique motor vehicles but are not required to display antique license plates to qualify for the emissions exemption. Although exempt from the emissions inspection, the $2 emissions fee is required when renewing these registrations.
And - I did not "gut" a functional cat - it was clogged. Why not just replace? - If I don't need it why pay $160.00 or more + labor to install when I can straight pipe it for under $20.00 or put in a resonator for under $75.00 For what it's worth - with the "hammered cat" there is just a slight drone - exhaust note is mellow and not a lot louder then when the cat was functional. I do think that with just a straight pipe it would have a considerable drone therefore I will most likely install a resonator.
Thanks, fellas, for all of the great advice! I truly appreciate it. It looks like the consensus is to stay legal, and to replace the cat with a clean, free-flowing version. I plan to get right on that. Thanks, again.
It can be a pain to port the V6 fiero exhaust manifolds check your s to see if easy to remove bolts studs. the V6 Fiero exhaust manifold blockage is severe & hurts performance ,gas milage ,builds up heat every V6 fiero needs to have the exhaust manifolds ported,one look & you will know why,,but it is time consuming every Fiero needs a double seal clutch slave pushrod from rodney dickman,, cheap improvement,you are going to need this one day, do it as soon as possible
From VA •Motor vehicles exempted from emissions inspections include: ◦Gasoline powered passenger or property carrying vehicles with a model year that is more than 25 years old before January 1 of the current calendar year. As an example, vehicles with a model year of 1984 are exempt from emissions on or after January 1, 2009; vehicles with a model year of 1985 will be exempt from emissions on or after January 1, 2010.Vehicles 25 years old or older qualify as antique motor vehicles but are not required to display antique license plates to qualify for the emissions exemption. Although exempt from the emissions inspection, the $2 emissions fee is required when renewing these registrations.
And - I did not "gut" a functional cat - it was clogged. Why not just replace? - If I don't need it why pay $160.00 or more + labor to install when I can straight pipe it for under $20.00 or put in a resonator for under $75.00 For what it's worth - with the "hammered cat" there is just a slight drone - exhaust note is mellow and not a lot louder then when the cat was functional. I do think that with just a straight pipe it would have a considerable drone therefore I will most likely install a resonator.
I wasn't talking about the emissions inspection. I was talking about the yearly safety inspection, and the noise laws. The emissions inspection is irrelevant for 95% of VA anyway, as it's only required in the areas near DC.
The exemption of an emissions inspection does not preclude the fact that other laws are in place which make gutting or removing the cat, illegal.
Why replace? Because it's the law, and it benefits the community for you to do so. By gutting the cat or installing a straight pipe, you are increasing the emissions coming out the tailpipe, whether an inspection of those emissions is required or not. Those emissions do contribute to environmental damage. You are also increasing noise output. Both of those are illegal, regardless of whether the car is 25 years old or not. If a cop stops you for noise, and gives you a ticket, he will be fully within the right of the law, to do so. He could also issue a ticket for altered emissions equipment. How much would the tickets and or court costs be? How much would they be if it happened multiple times? Probably more than the $200 or less it would cost to just install a new cat.
