chevyboy_z28

i had my cutout put in place of my cat (shhh dont tell anyone) and ever since then people have been telling me that that will burn up my engine. i dont really even run with the POS open cause it sounds like a dam truck or caprice or some ****, but will the lack of a catalytic convertor hurt the engine? the only thing ive noticed is that when i have it open (the cutout) and i mash all the way on it in say neutral it will backfire like hell (sounds like im poppin some popcorn) and when racing i lose alot of low end torque, mainly b/c of its placement, but the car does sound better when i have it closed and i run it thru the muffler, and i havent had any problems out of it so far?

LS1_03

No it does not hurt your engine. At least not that I know of.

rotoruter2001

i had someone tell me that too at one point. (he owned a mustang, nuff said) No, you are ok.

notstock4long

I don't think it could actually harm the engine, but a straight thru exhaust setup can decrease performance a little, because of the lack of back pressure. I think the only thing you actually are hurting is the enviroment, because the only point of a catalytic converter, as far as I know, is to burn some of the unburned fuel that makes it to the exhaust. It just used some metal like platinum or something that burns up a little more fuel.

I am kind of curious as to why straight thru setups backfire though. I think it might be because the air is trying to suck itself back into the exhaust pipes after being pushed out by the exhaust. Anyone know the exact reason?

Cmr0z28

sup man its MattZ28 from ws6zxr.com

chevyboy_z28

come to think about it everyone who told me that **** does own a mustang (my brother, my cousin, my paw, and some guy i saw at the races last night) !

L44

I too had a mustang owner tell me that lol, it does reduce backpressure so on a stock motor you may see a little loss, but even basic boltons would overcome it, less restriction, more flow = more power, the mustang owner also said my 4" pipes would hurt....its funny because that day i dynod about 10+ hp after the new setup

chevyboy_z28

i dont even see how they (mustang guys) could say it would harm the car b/c my cousin has an offroad h-pipe on his 88 5.0 (i.e. not cats) and hasnt had any problems with it! i think what im gonna do is just use the cutout as an offroad pipe b/c im not really impressed with the sound, this way i dont feel like i blew $35 ...offroad pipes cost around $90-$100 anyway, so i kinda got one for cheap !

Don 97 SS

1975 was the first year for 50 state cat requirement on cars. Think about it. Somehow the cars made before 1975 managed just fine without cats.

At the time I was wondering how it was possible for my car to run with one of those early model, MFing cats!! There were more rumors and myths foating around then about how they would work and all the problems they would cause (i.e. fires, explosions, etc)

It seems we come full circle. Now guys are worried about taking them off.

TMDZ28

LOL