Gutting my CAT

[sesshoumaru]

A had a look at the inside of my factory cat the other day, and it's pretty much f00bared...

I'm going to upgrade to a high flow cat + cat back eventually, but for now do you think i should just gut the cat? This would moreso be just an experiment to see if there is actually any performance difference.

Does running no cat actually help honda's at all?

Has anyone actually been fined for having no cat?

[_Wing_]

No, you should not gut the cat. Apart from the fine, which is a big one, you're f*cking up the air we all breathe.

You're going to upgrade eventually? That sounds like a large amount of time, you should just head down to a local wrecker and get one for cheap - that'll do everybody good.

[McChook]

GUT IT - Or spend $50 and buy a used one
Race cars don't have cats, they set grass on fire....

[eknine]

make sure you strike a winfall before thinking to go without a cat<laffs>

its one of those "cheap" fines, you can seriously do without <kekekeke>

[wynode]

GUT IT - Or spend $50 and buy a used one
Race cars don't have cats, they set grass on fire....His isn't a race car and there are rules and regulations governing his car when its on a public road.

Don't gut it. Just get a new Cat ASAP or expect a hefty fine IF you do get pulled over. Not worth the rist IMO

[sesshoumaru]

that is one of my long term goals, to have fire coming out of my exhaust.

I'll probably just leave it as it is atm... I was just asking because i'm gonna be down under the car again soon pulling the exhaust apart.

wing: i'm going to do cat back when i find a good second hand muffler.

[sesshoumaru]

seriously, has anyone ever been fined for having no cat? surely there is a penalty, but 5grand? 10 grand? i don't think so.[/b]

[Boost]

one of my mate has gutted his cat.... never been fined yet..
performance wise.. i dont really know.. have to ask him.

[McChook]

Cats are restrictive, therefore a hollow one will have zero restriction... it doesn;t make a whole lot of power. Worth the risk if you are too lazy/cheap to go buy one - but they are cheap, very inexpensive

Unless you drive an import/defect target, it won't be a hassle. PLUS, if it is gutted, it looks like it is there, unlike a straight through pipe, so you'd probably get away with it, because they aren;t going to remove the cat to bust you...

That said, they do clean the air somewhat.

[eknine]

yeah they would take out the cat to bust ya......heard abt emission test man? hummm maybe i don't quite understand what EPA stands for:(

look no further

http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/air/actionforair/actionforair-11.htm

see action 3.3 and phase 1 - i maybe blind to miss the word "modified"

[Boost]

thats right Matt, hes looks like its still there... still has the outter shell except no internals.. but it sounds kinda louder tho.. ..

[Boost]

thats also true eknine... but most of the time they dont have the tools with them to test the car..
oh well.. i personally wouldnt gut it.. just get a high flow... still got some performance there...and safer as well..

[ATSE]

What are u trying to achieve by gutting it? get a new CAT man... not worth it... EPA will give out fines of up to $10,000 if they catch you. I think they measure the exahust temperature when they think you have gutted the cat... and also heaps of freakin black smoke at WOT and cruising...

[eknine]

yes they might not have the all the tools on the spot , but how can you be certain they don't direct you for immediate test action at the nearest center, it has been done before and it could happen again or what happend if you are caught during a defective car blitz invoving both RTA+EPA - they do have equipments with defective measurement tools/instrutment/guage which they used to measure the legalities(sound, emission, rims size, ride height, tints , etc), of which one that ATSE has mentioned :thumbsup: :nod:


what i'm saying if you do get caught by epa, then prepared for a hefty fine...for epa and rta bust can be similiar, but be aware that the epa's are not like rta if you are caught , you don't expect to be slapped with a small fine and send you for corrective actions. you'd expect a big one and i doubt they will just bust you for emission but noise and a host of related as they find.

and as for gutting, as he said, he will eventually move on to bigger things so i can only speculate that its a temp solution but like like McChook has mention its abt $50, and for me if $50 is an aversion and a piece of mind to avoid a hefty fine, that well worth...

2 cents :D

[ATSE]

good stuff eknine... at the end it ain't worth it.. i've heard bad stories about ppl being dicked by EPA here in Victoria in regards to gutting a CAT, and it ain't pretty. Apparently Hi-Flow Cat's are illegal too...

[fueltank]

they might not have the tools to check on the spot...but a tap followed by a hollow echo will more than likely score you a spot in the line @ the EPA test centre with some fines.

hollow cats can cause turbulence in the exhaust I have heard.

and if you run without a cat, I hope you run into a blitz where the EPA and Police setup an inspection station on the side of the road.

[eknine]

ATSe, i am not sure if high flow cat are legal, coz there are some company within australia claiming there are...but unless such muffler places/installers also check for emmission as part of their service to make sure you fall within the legal limit ..then i'll would be questioning " if it does fall within legal, it could also means either it only free up a lil more than stock but within legal limits or it could be as restrictive as stock, then money can be assume better spend else where"...if you get my drift, i hope you see my point " you seemed to be going somewhere but maybe you are not"...

btw apart from that, i reckon high-flow cat should be illegal.

just use a test pipe when you go on tracks...and use a cat on the road, help the enviroment and less gamble on your pockets :)

[ginganggooly]

this is a really refreshing change... us aussies seem to be so much more sensible than the yanks.

when this topic comes up on american forums they start harping on about tree huggers, and communists and their god given right to make as much pollution as they damn well please.

makes me glad to live in oz :)

[eknine]

may be the yanks does not have to live with the depletion of ozone layers within their backyards<laffz>...coz a few months back on some channel, discovery or whatever it was at my mates place. it was featuring some huge hole in our oz skies:)

maybe thats also another reason for the high melanoma cases...oh well, juz hope that john howard take some serious look into the kyoto protocol <kekekekeke>

[CTR Coupe]

I’ve heard cars without a cat (straight pipe with mufflers) and it sounds nasty very hi pitched raspy sort of noise. I’ve heard that u can use a cat off a larger capacity engine (v6 commodore) as a cheep hi flow cat instead of buying an aftermarket hi flow cat (please some one confirm that). I’ve heard there’s very little to be gained out of removing it anyway. In my opinion its not worth the risk of getting busted plus save the planet man :D

[sesshoumaru]

Thanks fellas.

I've heard the smell is really distinct with a gutted cat. Anyone know aynthing about this?

This is not even a temp solution for me, but just for fun! I probably will not gut it anyway, i'm not really interested in picking up 0.2hp... so yeah.

[McChook]

heard the smell is really distinct with a gutted cat. Anyone know aynthing about this?
.

Um, no..... Sounds like an old wive's tale
Skyline has no cat, and it smells normal next to a catted GTR

[LatinoHatchCrap]

[quote="sesshoumaru"]that is one of my long term goals, to have fire coming out of my exhaust.
quote] LOL :D ! *tight JDM flames Yo!* LOL!
to answer your question: dont gut your cat, its a ghetto job its bound to get you in deep shit if you're driving at the worng place at the worng time.
dont listen to anyone that tells you you can get away with it. Its your ar its gona be your fine. No point in risking it.
AND YES IT STINKS!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU STEP ON IT IF COPS ARE BEHIND YOU AND THEY SMELL THAT PUTRID GARBAGE SMELL THEIR GONA SUSPECT SOEMTHING DONT YOU AGREE??

[incoming]

i had mine gutted out... my mechanic did it for me LOL
tell u the truth.. i couldnt tell any difference...
as for the smell... i didnt smell anything...
IMO dont gut it.. aint worth the worry when u get pulled over..