Best way to clean out center of catalytic converter?

[Worridge]

I was thinking of just beating the p*** out of it with a crowie. Whilst wearing a dust mask of course.

Looking for some mad laminar flow :sneaky2:

Any cleaner idea's that are less likely to pump dust everywhere?
I've done it before, it was a messy/laborious job.

Cheers,

Worrado

 

[unclepaulie]

Hammer and a big ass flat blade screwdriver...apparently


A mask hey? Sounds like a good idea now...oh well

 

[Slinz]

^ That was the advice I received, hypothetically speaking of course, when I asked the forums a while back. But nobody would ever do it because it leaves your emissions illegal One day I'll get around to it...Hypothetically.

 

[godzilla]

Without them physically taking the cat out and looking to see if it still has its "guts", how do they bust you for it? iirc, "de-catting" carries massive fines.

 

[Slinz]

Without them physically taking the cat out and looking to see if it still has its "guts", how do they bust you for it? iirc, "de-catting" carries massive fines.

They stick a little doo-dad near your zorst and it measures concentrations of various crap. Basically without the cat you put out more of certain stuff which takes you above the 'legal' emissions levels and then you get the ridiculously large fine.

 

[unclepaulie]

They stick a little doo-dad near your zorst and it measures concentrations of various crap. Basically without the cat you put out more of certain stuff which takes you above the 'legal' emissions levels and then you get the ridiculously large fine.

thats the one. however i dont think police carry this, only certain QTrans outlets, so if you're unfortunate enough to get done, you'd hav to swap out the special cat for a cat cat

 

[jet150]

I just got myself some 3'' pipe and welded the shields of the cat around it. It looks exactly like a cat.

 

[Guest]

Surely the cats wear out over time or disintegrate and are no longer effective. How could they tell a gutted one from a rooted one that died of natural causes without inspecting it internally.

 

[Lasiorhinus]

Emissions-wise, it makes no difference WHY your vehicle is emitting too much smelly stuff, its still unroadworthy.

If they notice you've removed or deliberately damaged your catalytic converter, thats when you get hit with massive fines as well as having an unroadworthy vehicle.

 

[Worridge]

Thus if I beat the shit out of it, "it just deteriorated of its own accord" pleading ignorant. Aside from all this thread evidence.

 

[eddyvr4]

You can use a long drill bit / hacksaw blade /wood rasp / file. the honeycomb catalyst is very fragile/crumbly and you can remove holes or sections very neatly and easily, you shouldnt externally damage or alter its visual appearance whatsoever if you exercise some care.

i would be particulary careful to avoid touching or ingesting any of the dust/catalyst material, im not sure how toxic it is.

You can get very high flow cats that will meet emissions and negligible restriction for our engine flow, but yes they are fairly pricey.

 

[Worridge]

All done I used a cold chisel and a hammer and chiseled the hell out of it. Took 5mins and then wacked her back in.

I don't know whether I can notice the difference or whether its just placebo.

 

[godzilla]

My guess would be you would notice a bit of an increase on a dyno but most of it would be as you say, placebo. Having said that, maybe it would be making a tad more torque.

 

[Taylor]

Ive smashed the cat out myself, really easy to do. big screwdriver and mellet. just smash it up, give it a shake and repeat. It will get to a point where the lining of the honey comb which looks like a elastic waistband made from metal. Pull that out and then you have a completely hollow cat. expect you exhaust to get a fair bit noisier, as its now a chamber the gases can expand and resonate in.

Not as good as a decat pipe but nonetheless a good size power gain

N.B decat is legal in nz

 

[-T8-]

i would be particulary careful to avoid touching or ingesting any of the dust/catalyst material, im not sure how toxic it is.

It's asbestos isn't it?

 

[unclepaulie]

or go buy an X-force cat, drive round for a bit, scrape it twice and the thing will fall out by itself


grrrr xforce cat...but now i want a 'special' cat so i should have kept it in there haha

 

[Hotwire]

you snooze you lose pauli...

waiting to get some $$ to have it installed/exhaust modded

 

[unclepaulie]

hurry up! lol

 

[smitty]

I suspect my x-force cat is deadified... car STINKS. Awesome burble though VROOOOOOOOMMMMMM burble burble burble bubble blubblubblub. Only good thing about my exhaust....

 

[eddyvr4]

I had a full 3 inch system with MRT dumps, with a oval straight through muffler and 2 resonators. no cat. even with the 2 resonators It was still too noisy for my standards so i thought id add a 3 inch cat to try to quiet it down, and make it legal (particularly to a visual inspection) .

got a 3 inch magnaflow honeycomb cat which was fairly cheap ($185 from memory) , but not a high flow metal type. but still with a 3 inch barrel etc so i though that would be ok.

Car was much quieter, but DEFINITELY lost responsiveness and power compared to no cat..

I wasnt going to spend money and loose power, that was against my religion. So i subseqently modded the cat, firstly with half a dozen 16mm holes (still quiet...) then went much further with a clean 3 inch hole through the honeycomb (hacksaw blade) . its now still fairly quiet, but got most of the power back. In hindsight i should have done more research and got a higher flow cat to start with, but im happy now.

So learn from my mistake......