NO cat. converter laws

[xSILENTx]

I took out my converter awhile back and was just wondering what kind of price i could be looking at paying if i get caught. I live in PA . I'll put it back in if its to illegal.

[quaddriver]

Originally Posted by xSILENTx

I took out my converter awhile back and was just wondering what kind of price i could be looking at paying if i get caught. I live in PA . I'll put it back in if its to illegal.

as of the first of this year, PA, regardless of county, now visually inspects that the CAT is there, as well as EVAP, EGR and AIR systems.

So you will fail the next insp and there is no spending limit to get back into compliance. Todays high flow replacement cats do not hinder performance.

[Jlink2004]

if you get caught you will have to bring your car in and have it tested on an IM240 and if you put your cat back on before that youll be fine you get three chances to get into compliance or theyll take your car. Trust me Im an Automotive Technician.

[jdrumstik]

You could do it monster garage style, go find a clean looking cat at a junkyard, gut it, weld it, have the weld face the car, not the road. Then when you smog test comes up put the stock cat in.

[flyingskwerrl]

Jd's got the right idea. Go to a garage and find an old one or one that matches yours. Gut it. Find some exhaust pipe the same legth of the cat. Make sure its about an 8'th of an inch from either flange.Have your welder put a nice bead on it and grind it down nice and flush. There you go. Works like a charm. You dont want to just gut a cat and put it on. Not only does it sound like a coffee can but it actualy make you loose hp. Hope this helps!

[jdrumstik]

run the pipe through the cat right?

[RocketDSM]

Yes. But you need to do a good job or connecting the two ends or you can easily end up making as much turbulence as the car did in the first place. Best bet is to half the old one and lay the pipe in it and reweld. Or buy a high flow cat, they aren't too expensive anymore.

[Webslinger60]

I tried an empty cat (that was damaged from a backfire).
I did notice a little (just a little) boost in HP & MPG (BTW-it WAS a hi-flow cat to begin with). But it also echoed the exhaust note & sounded terrible.

Welding a pipe through, would cut the sound, but I bet you will NOT find a shop willing to do this, unless you're a personal friend of the owner.
It's not worth the trouble or legal risk. A hi-flow cat is your best bet.

I had a discussion on another board about this. Removing the cat is
illegal, federally (all 50 states) The fine is $2500. Usually levied toward
auto business, but could be charged against a private owner too.
But the powers-that-be would actually have to remove the cat & look through it, to have indictable evidence. It's not likely. A private owner could also plausibly, plead igorance & just install a cat to comply.

About these "fail 3 times & loose your car" states. I dont know about that. Does anyone actually know of a person who's car was confiscated
for failing emissions? (im not talking about a semi race car with numerous
equip & safety violations). NJ was gonna try that and the public screamed! So they backed-off.
Anyway, how are they gonna take your car? At gunpoint? I would just get in & drive away. I would rather get a lawyer & fight the addtional charge of refusing, rather than just surrender my car on the spot??