how to remove cat?

[Youngblood]

Im thinkin about getting a 2 3/4 pipe but I also want to remove the 2nd cat but no one will do it because they claim its illegal. So how do I take it off. I used the search but everyone says they just removed it. Thanks for the info

 

[kep0ne]

simple as getting under the car, unbolting the cat, replacing it with a test pipe.

you'll need an O2 fitting or it will throw a CEL...anyone know if it still throws a CEL if you have the fitting on the test pipe?

 

[Youngblood]

Where can I get an o2 fitting and what is my CEL
should I be worried....sounds painful! J/J

 

[Dragon_Reborn]

what do u mean by a second cat? we only have one cat, then a resonator pipe then the s-pipe then the muffler? right? I have the 02 protege sedan ES. If u wanted to take the cat off, u could. Here where i live it's illegal. U could take off the cat and hollow it out, then the cops would never know, but then again it's not like a cop will crawl under your car and give u a ticket anyway. Also u could get a performance high-flow cat, but that a waste of money i think, why even take it off? U think it restricts the exhaust that much? nah, If u get a cat-back exhaust and headers, then u should be fine.

 

[Youngblood]

What I was planning was to take it to a muffler shop in town and have them bend me a pipe 2 3/4 and make sure they mandrel bend it, and remove the cat. But if I can "gut the cat" then it will be basically the same but not 2 3/4 right. how do I gut the cat is it simple.

 

[kep0ne]

all new model proteges have two cats. a precat (right after the exhaust manifold) and then the main cat (after the precat.) removing either is easy...unbolt and remove. i dont really recommend gutting the cat because it really sounds terrible. you'd be better off getting a pipe mandrel bent with O2 fittings welded in (they can do allt his at the muffler shop). i plan on getting rid of the precat by installing some headers. ill keep the main cat because an I4 w/ no cats really sounds raspy and annoying. also, having a 2 3/4 down and midpipe wont really help because the rest of the exhaust is 2"...not sure if it will hamper performance a whole lot, but i think uniformity in size will keep any loss at a minimum.

 

[Youngblood]

Will a muffler shop know where my O2 fittings need to go or do I need to show them. Because its illiegal to remove the cats. So I was hoping that I could remove the whole exhaust take it to the shop and have them bend a new one and cut the fitting so it bolts right back to the exhaust manifold. What do you guys recomend?

 

[Protege01MP3]

I hollowed out my cat... it doesnt sound raspy.. it actually gave it a little meaner growl along w/ my custom intake... all you have to do to remove the cat is unbolt it... then you can, as others said, put in a peice of piping, or hollow and leave the cat, or just get the peice of piping to extend from in front of where the cat was to the muffler... either way you will be good...

if you want to hollow the cat out and leave it on (just incase highway patrol decides to be an asshole) all you have to do is take it off, get a screwdriver or something similar and start goin to town... there is a honeycomb shaped filter inside the cat that breaks down easily when jabbed at with an object such as a screwdriver... chunk it all up and clean it out, then remove the "sleeve" between the inner walls of the casing and the filter itself, bolt it back on and your done... its not really a performance upgrade but it sounds a little nicer and does give a little more response...

and lastly, as was mentioned above, dont bother going w/ 2 3/4 inch piping unless your gonna go w/ 2 3/4 all the way, otherwise it will still have 2 inch piping thats connected to the 2 3/4

and plus, you dont want piping thats too big unless you really need it (i.e. boost )

and as for shops saying they wont take your cat off.. just tell em that it isnt gonna be your daily driver say you plan on using it just at the track... or even see if they buy the excuse of off road use only

 

[jmauld]

You could also, take your cat off, go to a muffler shop and tell them to duplicate the length and fittings, and then just bolt it back yourself. They aren't doing anything illegal then.

 

[Youngblood]

So that seems pretty easy huh! Well I wonder why I didnt think of these ideas. Thanks for the info now I have a weekend project. Cool(bluemp3)

 

[Protege01MP3]

Thanks for the info now I have a weekend project. Cool(bluemp3)

beware tho!! those weekend projects can turn into alot more than a weekends worth of work but i doubt this one will.. its a fairly simple task

good luck!

 

[Youngblood]

tell me about it man seems like everything I do to my car goes wrong. except for the TWM short shifter thanks to detailed instructions. (bluemp3)