new 02 sensor after cutting cat off?

hey guys! i'm new to the forum, and here's my first question:

i just bought a 98 cavalier about a month ago and the check engine light has always been on. well i found out yesterday it was because the previous owner had the catalytic convertor cut off :banghead: do they make a 02 sim to fix this or do i need to go buy a cat to put back on?

they do make a simulator for it but alot of people say it'll make your car run too rich and it'll cost you quite a bit(available at summitracing.com). if you go the other route, you can get a free flow cat from summit also and it will cost you $50 and will have the threads for the o2 sensor to screw into. up to you.

I have my cat cut out, and a full 2.5'' exaust from the manifold back I got a check engine light on for about 2 days and the car was overfueling tailpipe was black!!, then i added a cai, and re-set the cpu (unplug the battery cable for about 15-20 minutes), I don't know if the light was an accual exaust code but it has never came on again!

oh, yeah I had a bung welded in the pipe in the same spot as the old one to put the 02 sensor in. but if yours is just hanging under the car, forget everything i said and get it put in the pipe

cavyman, what's a cai? and i called the previous owner last night (the one who had the cat cut off) and he told me that there was no 02 sensor behind the cat, just the one in the manifold. is this true on a 98 RS 2.2? he also told me the light didn't come on till he changed mufflers

not sure if that's right on a 2.2, i got a 2.4 and the is one in the manifold and right before the cat, and a cai means "cold air intake"

cold air intake.....ahhh i should've known that. well i don't have cai, but i have the newer style fiberglass camaro ss hood with functional ram air. haven't had a chance to hook it up yet. so maybe that'll help it. right now it has a flowmaster muffler, but i have one of those ricer (bumble bee) sounding ones i'm thinking about putting on. the previous owner says that when he had one of those on it, the check engine light never came on, so i might try it