Oh, and the corvette shop guy said he'd never seen a catalytic converter wear out...he's 52 yrs old.

  I put a Test Pipe on My 80' way back when it was nearly New. Couldn't stand the Sound of it it makes for a Raspy Sound threw the Stock Mufflers. It might of Sounded a Bit Faster but that was all I gained so I put the Cat back on after a Week. Keep in Mind that a Corvette Comes from the Factory with 505 HP threw Cats these Days. The best is a True Dual Exhaust with Twin Cats Like every Vette has come with for the last 20 Years but You Cannot Buy it You will have to make it because of Legalitys. Keep in Mind Cats are just Like any other Exhaust Product Bigger is better. Richard....

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My Car...PIC 1     PIC 2

[QUOTE=maintenance4]Year's ago, they use to sell a (test pipe) which replaced the converter. Wish I could get my hands on one now. Put one on my first 80 years ago, what a difference it made...[/QUOTE]

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GEN III 5.7L "LS6" Engine swap
TKO500 5 spd.

[QUOTE=Greg78SA]Oh, and the corvette shop guy said he'd never seen a catalytic converter wear out...he's 52 yrs old.[/QUOTE]

i understand corvettes are top notch cars but for him to state he never seen one go bad leaves me wondering. i am 52 and i have seen cats go bad not only on one of my cars but on other peoples cars as well. granted my car wasn't a corvette, it was a cadillac. after a lot of aggravation the dealer found it was the cat was bad. of course it wound up costing 600.00 thru the dealer to replace it once it was done the problem cleared up.

as i have headers on my vette there are no cats on my car and it doesn't sound bad. it has to me a great sound at idle like the power is waiting to be unleashed and cruising sounds great too.
eddie208752007-04-07 15:58:49

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LIFETIME MEMBER #97
THE DYNAMIC DUO

I have an '82 Chev pickup with a 305 4-bbl. It always got 13.5 MPG. I pulled the cat off and the mileage went up to 16.5 MPG. Can't say much for the performance, cause there never was any in the first place. It is registered in a county w/o smog tests....

My 'Vette has full length headers and a 2-1/2" true dual exhaust blowing out thru straight-through Walker welded Dyno-Max mufflers and the ZZ-4 sounds and runs perfect, with 20 MPG hwy.

I never have been a big fan of cats, steel and platinum or 4-legged.....

Dave

I am 51 and can say that I have seen cats "wear" out by the internals coming loose, causing blockage. I have also found the internal mesh (on the monolithic ceramic types) clogged.  My solution is to use a large hammer drill to "clean" out the blockage and put the cat back in place.  If you don't like the sound - get new mufflers - many great sounding cars were built in the 60s/70s without cats.  I have always seen an increase in mileage and performance - even if it was only 1 or 2 mpg.

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C3: 1979 Corvette Coupe, Auto, L-48, Red/Doeskin (my wife's fave);

so many people here are having cats stolen off cars.

I had attest pipe  I fitted on a l200 truck, made a lot more power. don't know about mpg,just drove it harder.

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1979 Corvette

Do it.  That mechanic was talking out of his muffler.  

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I have a friend with an 03 corolla with bad cat. and the cost to replace was over $1000, of course it has 270,000 miles one it. And I had a ford ranger that went bad about 140,000..so yes they do go bad, mine had to replaced....and the corolla is just blow out, so only problem is the check engine light stays one.

 

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I took the cat off my '80 about 3 years ago and replaced it with tight-tuck headers, 2 1/2 inch aluminum exhaust, and Magnaflow mufflers.  Absolutely helped performance but I also installed a performance cam, dual plane intake, and 770-cfm Holley carb.

Several types of vehicles are PERMANENTLY EXEMPT from the E-Check test requirement and do not need a visual inspection. A complete list with a detailed explanation may be found in Ohio Administrative Code, Section 3745-26-12(c). It is not necessary for vehicle owners that are permanently exempt to be issued an exemption certificate. The most common types are listed below.

1. Vehicles more than 25 years old, as determined by vehicle model year;
2. Commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating;
3. Historical and collector's vehicles - contact Ohio BMV for details;
4. Parade and exhibition vehicles - contact Ohio BMV for details;
5. Motorcycles, recreational vehicles and motor homes - contact Ohio BMV for details;

Since my car is older than 25 years and I have Collector plates, I qualify for permanent exemption under numbers 1 and 3.

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Chuck