Progress Thread Nasty Ninety Notch

Whether you have dumps or full tailpipes also makes a huge difference too. The further from the cabin you can get the exhaust to exit the better. I never really noticed a smell inside the car (full Gt tails) but standing behind the car could sometimes make me feel like I was cutting an onion
Its got full LX tails.
 
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Whether you have dumps or full tailpipes also makes a huge difference too. The further from the cabin you can get the exhaust to exit the better. I never really noticed a smell inside the car (full Gt tails) but standing behind the car could sometimes make me feel like I was cutting an onion
Funny...people say the same thing about me:shrug:.
 
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The question has been asked by quite a few people before, (including me). And it's another one where you'll get a divided answer to it because of personal preference. The red car was N/A, and carbureted. It had no cats. It had all new gaskets and a good seal on the shifter boot. Four mufflers and full length, out the back tail pipes. And it stunk.

As long as you were going forward there was no problem. But any other time you could come flying up to a stop sign, and the exhaust fumes followed right along with the car,....They'd come wafting up next to a rolled down window like some sort of fume cop had just pulled me over,and ask......"Do you know how many poisonous hydrocarbons you're emitting?"

"Why no, *cough* smellofficer, I *wheeze* didn't even think I was stinking"....

"Well sir you were. I'm citing you for a smell violation,..and issuing you a warning to get an aftermarket cat installed if you don't want to smell me again"...

All I can say is even though cars existed for their majority "pre-cat" doesn't mean that they didn't stink to high hell nonetheless.
Ever followed behind a muscle car? You can smell it in your own car 4 car lengths behind dude.

Get the cats installed. There is enough evidence that you wont really affect performance, and won't negligibly hurt the overall sound of the car. MFE92 has been testifying to that since before 2011, and he competes with his car routinely.
 
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The question has been asked by quite a few people before, (including me). And it's another one where you'll get a divided answer to it because of personal preference. The red car was N/A, and carbureted. It had no cats. It had all new gaskets and a good seal on the shifter boot. Four mufflers and full length, out the back tail pipes. And it stunk.

As long as you were going forward there was no problem. But any other time you could come flying up to a stop sign, and the exhaust fumes followed right along with the car,....They'd come wafting up next to a rolled down window like some sort of fume cop had just pulled me over,and ask......"Do you know how many poisonous hydrocarbons you're emitting?"

"Why no, *cough* smellofficer, I *wheeze* didn't even think I was stinking"....

"Well sir you were. I'm citing you for a smell violation,..and issuing you a warning to get an aftermarket cat installed if you don't want to smell me again"...

All I can say is even though cars existed for their majority "pre-cat" doesn't mean that they didn't stink to high hell nonetheless.
Ever followed behind a muscle car? You can smell it in your own car 4 car lengths behind dude.

Get the cats installed. There is enough evidence that you wont really affect performance, and won't negligibly hurt the overall sound of the car. MFE92 has been testifying to that since before 2011, and he competes with his car routinely.
That's helpful. I'd like to read what @MFE92 had to say about cats vs no cats. Again, I currently have 2 front cats working on the factory H-pipe. I'll be checking them for heat ranges today at the inlet/outlet weld rings. The cats are new, but they were installed when I had major vacuum leaks (e.g., cracked plenum and PCV leaks).

I don't drive the car much, but it was so stinkin' bad (pun intended) that I used to gag and my clothes smelled like exhaust. Obviously the air/fuel was way off. It sounded like it, ran like it, and smelled like it. Yet, I had to get to Dr's appointments and had to drive the car so I did what I had to do in the moment. I'm hoping the mileage I put on the cats like that didn't ruin them. We will see.

Now, I'm trying to make sure the car is ready for a cross-country drive if necessary.

Please keep chiming in guys. It's all helpful.
 
I've posted about them here too, but I used an offroad H-pipe for years, and when I finally tired of the stink, I installed a pair of those little Magnaflow spun metallics. They knocked the stink right off, and I kicked myself for not doing it years sooner. And when I moved to an area with emissions testing, they passed with flying colors. They failed eventually but I wasn't even mad, given the abuse I gave them on road courses. I replaced them with more Magnaflow Spun Metallics and passed emissions again.
 
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I've posted about them here too, but I used an offroad H-pipe for years, and when I finally tired of the stink, I installed a pair of those little Magnaflow spun metallics. They knocked the stink right off, and I kicked myself for not doing it years sooner. And when I moved to an area with emissions testing, they passed with flying colors. They failed eventually but I wasn't even mad, given the abuse I gave them on road courses. I replaced them with more Magnaflow Spun Metallics and passed emissions again.
That's really good to know. What do you think about my scenario? Currently, I have the stock H-pipe with two functioning front cats (at least I'll retest them to make sure). The cats are CA legal cats and have about 600 miles on them at most. I'm trying to see, since we might be moving to an emissions test free location, if it's worth it to go o/r H. The H would essentially be free to me.

I'm trying to think of pros/cons. If you need any further info let me know. Thanks for your input!
 
Question:

Considering the amount of money, time, and effort put into restomodding these cars I would hate to get into an accident. I'm sure insurance payout would be pitiful. Does anyone have a special plan for classic cars (i.e., 20+ years old)?
I just got hagerty a few months ago . Can take it to work once a week , pleasure drive etc . I had to fight with them on the value considering what these cars sell for and what I have in mine we met at a number I was comfortable with . No mileage limitation but more of a round about that can be adjusted yearly .


Sent from my iPhone using my fingers while my auto correct makes me seem illiterate
 
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That's really good to know. What do you think about my scenario? Currently, I have the stock H-pipe with two functioning front cats (at least I'll retest them to make sure). The cats are CA legal cats and have about 600 miles on them at most. I'm trying to see, since we might be moving to an emissions test free location, if it's worth it to go o/r H. The H would essentially be free to me.

I'm trying to think of pros/cons. If you need any further info let me know. Thanks for your input!

I'd never run without cats again, testing or no testing. It's just not worth the stink.
 
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I just got hagerty a few months ago . Can take it to work once a week , pleasure drive etc . I had to fight with them on the value considering what these cars sell for and what I have in mine we met at a number I was comfortable with . No mileage limitation but more of a round about that can be adjusted yearly .


Sent from my iPhone using my fingers while my auto correct makes me seem illiterate
Application with Hagerty under review.
 
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Update: Blowhard

Considering the fine advice here I was all set to just retain my 2 cats. First though, I wanted to test drive the car then check heat ranges on the 2 cats. I was suspicious of them due to the poor conditions they operated under. They were installed with a faulty MAF and cracked plenum. Under those conditions the a/f ratio was [way] off -it was super-pig rich. I did correct all those problems (cf. earlier posts), but I was concerned that the couple/few hundred miles I drove like that may have killed them.

So, after test driving and checking heat ranges I observed that the left cat was at equal temps inlet/outlet weld rings, whereas there should be at least a 150* difference (higher at outlet). This is indicative of a cat getting ready to fail. The right side cat was similar, but only 200* hotter than the right side cat at the weld rings (e.g., 675*). This probably explains the recent sluggishness, hot exhaust smells, and now stalling upon start.

For the time being I will simply use the aftermarket H-pipe since it's free. I suspect it won't stay that way because I don't like fumes. At this time the exhaust is having a hard time exhaling
 
yup. Crazy what such a tiny inexpensive thing can do. They've come WAY down in price since a few months ago too, IIRC.
Yes, the price is great! I've put in a question concerning the legality of this part in CA. I'm convinced by yall's advice that cats are better due to smell, etc. Right now, its just about getting the car on the road so I can go to Dr's appts, run errands, and so that we can move. We plan on an exodus of this state. If the converters from Summit are CA legal I'll scoop them asap, if not I'll try to exit the state and scoop them at our destination.
 
Update: Heartbreaker #2.

Hagerty turned me down because my I'm too much of a risk. What? Apparently, driving 5k miles a year is too much considering we only have two cars and not three or more.
 
Ya Hagerty requires a car per driver and the stang as an extra. They question it not being a DD.

Cats, I run the bbk catted x. work great but Im a east coaster.... CA says if I understand you cannot touch or change the factory cat unless its been damaged.... so there's your hook call and ask them what to replace with.....(from a pay phone while wearing a mask.. :ninja: )
 
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