CA Smog Question about Cats

[mavmavv]

So I need to smog my beast by the end of the month, the cats are obviously shot to hell and gone but I cant find a CA-legal replacement. What is the extent of the visual check for cats? I can get a catco direct fit replacement, but I dont want to buy that and fail visual because I only have 2 cats instead of 4. Should I just pray for a shop that doesnt know better? Also, what am I limited to air filter wise? I dont have the stock airbox anymore, the filter is simply snugged into the MAF housing. I have a feeling that wont fly either.

Any help would be appreciated, I want this car to be legal and all, but goddamn CA make it a pain.

 

[Sicarius428]

Magnaflow X and H has a CARB number. Some smog stations know what to look for and if they don't see 4 cats they will fail you on the visiual. The place I brought mine to didn't blink twice when I brought mine in for the test. I am not sure if they knew there were suppose to be 4 cats originally. They seemed more interested in my tailpipe emissions and my top end.
Kevin

 

[mavmavv]

Sweet! I found the Magnaflow H for 289 online, Part # 93337

That should do the trick.

Edit: Make that 275 with free shipping and no tax! Score!

 

[Sicarius428]

That is way cheap. I bought mine for 400ish.
Kevin

 

[873Stang]

when you go to smog be sure all your vac hoses are good and not cracked, also try to shake the back of the car and then open the gas cap you should hear air come out they'll fail you for a bad cap and yea you need a stock air box unless its a street legal intake with a ser# put your timing down to 10* and im not sure how your stang runs but if your really concern about it passing 1) get it hot the hotter the better and 2) buy a bottle of garantee to pass its in a blue box with a red car on the box

 

[ras50gt]

I live in CA too.... I have the magnaflow x pipe with two cats, it passed easily. Passed better than my moms 96 toyota camry lol. My last smog before the x pipe, I barely passed(with stock h pipe). I also don't have the stock air box on there, just a large 12" K&N air filter on it. The guy didn't mind that at all. One thing I was worried about was I have dynomax bullet mufflers that are dumped at the axle- so no tails. Guy had to crawl under the car a little to put the sniffer in but he didn't seem to care. Best thing to do is just take your car into one of those random smog test stations and hopefully get a pretty cool technician. It also helps to drive the car around for 15 mins or so to get the cats nice and warm, and change the oil before going in.

 

[Sicarius428]

My 5.0 passed way better than my 92 corolla. Lol. I have a fender well intake but the guy didn't even flinch at it.
Kevin

 

[Mikey1968]

Sweet! I found the Magnaflow H for 289 online, Part # 93337

That should do the trick.

Edit: Make that 275 with free shipping and no tax! Score!

Where did you find it???

 

[mavmavv]

http://www.performancepeddler.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=MAG93337

 

[Mikey1968]

Sweet! Why didn't you go with the 93338 which is 2.5" rather than the stock 2.25"???

When you install your set, please either post here or PM me how you like them, how they fit, could you feel any performance increase....?

I'm thinking of dropping in a set with the 2.5" pipes as I need clearance for my new HPM 4-point K-member brace.

 

[mavmavv]

I went with 2.25 since a 302 just doesnt need 2.5" pipes, especially since I wont be messing with the motor in the foreseeable future. Maybe a turbo down the road, but the car was bought to just be a nice driver.

Ill be sure to post about the quality though.

 

[Sicarius428]

Ground clearance could be an issue with the bigger pipes... I have FMS springs which only lower an inch at most and sometimes I will scrape. I do have to say that my magnaflow X was a PITA to install. Doesn't help that BBK headers are slightly wider than stock at the collectors. If I had the stock headers I imagine it wouldn't be a lot easier.
Kevin

 

[ras50gt]

My magna x w/cats bolted up easily. I have bbk headers as well. I had to get someone to help hold the pipes up and sorta bend them apart a little. Also, had to zip tie the pipe that goes to the smog pump until I could get to a muffler shop to weld it. The x pipe hung down lower than stock so the muffler shop heated the pipes and used a special jack to raise the whole thing up. Looks awesome, passes smog with no problems and sounds bad ass. The x has a unique sound, wonder how it will sound when I get my 331 stroker motor, h/c/i, and some day a s/c. I'm thinking an o/r might be the way to go next. You should really consider the 2.5 pipes, no point to the 2.25.