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Gutting the Catalytic Converter

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phameus

New CEG'er
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
19
How do I do this?
2000 Contour SE 2.0 Zetec 142k miles
I live in Tampa Bay and we don't have emission testing.
 
I did the same thing to my 00 SE V6 Sport. All we did was unbolt that section off, took a metal chisel, rather long one, and used a hammer, and split the "brick" inside the cat in pieces small enough to fall through the pipe. That's all.
 
It's amazing how on this forum, it's not really a topic that's looked down on when someone wants to gut a catalytic converter.

You should see the ruckus that's caused when someone on the Cherokee forums asks about it.
 
hack it off, clamp a new pipe on. i'll be moving to fort myers a week from today. i'll do it for you if you want
 
yeah your way better off getting rid of the cat all together. opening up that section where it's big will cause it to sound like crap most likely. cut the flanges off each side of the cat and weld a pipe in.
 
You guys DO realize defeating those is a $10,000 federal fine right? I realize likelihood of getting caught is nominal, but it DOES happen. Better to gut the case, then still looks officially there, here in Texas if a black and white stops you sometimes they inspect under car. If case not there guess what happens. I know firsthand of a Chevy dealer where the boys in mechanics shop were doing it. Car caught on roadside, the trooper pressed driver hard and guy told him of the dealership. When state raided and found 6 torched off converter cases behind in dumpster, entire dealership was closed down and people went to jail. Dealer/owner was fined 6X$10,000, fired everybody near the incident.
 
It's a $10,000 fine for businesses only I'm pretty sure. A cop has no way to prove you did anything to your car. "I don't know officer, I brought my car to a few places when I had a Check Engine light last year. They told me they replaced the catalytic converter."

Game over.
 
striker2 said:
Even stock the cop will never find the CAT under the Zetec Contour. :laugh:
Click to expand...

Very good point. As long as you Duratec guys have your main cat, then you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to worry about. And for the Zetec guys, the officer won't know WHERE to look, lol.
 
Isn't there a tube that goes from the Cat to the EGR system, or something like that? If you don't have it, I believe it would cause the CEL to come on, and your air/fuel mixture *might* be affected. If you put in just a pipe in the Cat's place, how would you solve that dilemma?
 
Uh, in the story I told, the trooper pulled the dealership out of the guy by threatening him with the ten grand fine personally. The law says NOTHING about businesses only. Having said that, I do agree that it would be hard to prove, that's why the fed requires paperwork filled out on EVERY cat changed by businesses. Nobody follows up on it of course, but if they got you in a corner and squeezed the law is there. Similar to intentionally venting refrigerant into the air, also illegal. Here in Texas at least in the D/FW metroplex, even cars more than 25 years old that do not sniff must pass at least visual equipment inspection, if the cat case missing it does not pass. Inspectors can't know all emission setups but they zero in on converter for sure. Doesn't have to even work but MUST be there.
 
best thing i've found to do when gutting your cat to keep the raspy crap sound that you get with it is to sleeve it. after you gut it out insert a peice of exhaust pipe in side of it, this normaly will keep the exhaust gas and exhaut noise flowing smoothly out the tail pipe, just gutting it makes the cat an echo chamber and causes turbulence, that's where you get the crappy sound from. also putting the sleee in the cat makes you exhaust look unmodified for anyone that wants to look.
 
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