which catalytic converter to buy

[sly]

when I put the magnaflow cars on my cars, it gave it a little sweeter smell. But it didn't really change much since my old cats still worked for the most part. Probably just due to the "new" of it. I don't smell that "sweet" part any more. I've had them on the cars for over 4 years now though.

[DerekTheGreat]

Would it make you stink afterwards? I can hang out by the tailpipes of my TC (Once its hot) and it wont make me or my clothes stinky.

[sly]

nope. no smell left on me from my exhaust ever.

[DerekTheGreat]

Tits!

[knucklehead0202]

Did you notice any gain with the headers? And by stink do you guys mean you end up smelling like hydrocarbons? Fury has that good No emissions/no EGR smell but you'll end up stinking like it after even brief exposure.

If anything I lost torque with the exhaust system, but it sure sounds a hell of a lot better, or sounds at all rather. All I heard before was fan noise, lol. My car seriously stinks though, like an old gardening truck with a bad cat. I will say this though; despite the detractors, I'm very happy with my $80 ebay headers. They're 1-5/8", ceramic-coated shorties that came with gaskets and hardware. No leaks and they've been on there a few months now. I checked the bolts a week or two after they were installed and haven't checked since. The quality was pretty good, with a little sloppiness in the welds, but no gaps and the ceramic coating job looks good inside and out. I used an old offroad h-pipe from my brother's fox mustang and my exhaust guy chopped it up a bit to make it fit better and tuck up nicely. He kinda pissed me off by getting rid of the rear flanges but I didn't give him any shit about it since the rest of the job was done so well. I'll probably go to my other favorite shop for the cats because they're faster and cheaper. May have them put v-band flanges between the h and the cat-back. Perhaps do some different tips too, I think that's part of my stink problem.

[GM_Guy]

So with that said, any of you guys notice a difference in exhaust smell after switching to aftermarket cats? Gotta be a reason why OEM's used more of the spendy metal, right? I was about to pop on Walker's 2.5" cats and a whole new 2.5" dual exhaust but decided to stay with 2.25 when I went dually style.

OEM cats have a 10 year government mandated warranty to survive as part of a new car emmisions warranty. They use more precious materials and better construction (in general) and get a price tag to go along with it. Some cheapo aftermarkets skimp on the good stuff, do the job for a few years and are dead again, which is apparently a reason California is pushing for longer lasting replacement cats, so they've gone to the OEM or commifornia certified cat as a legal replacement.
If a cat isn't 50 state, doesn't mean its a bad cat. Just means they don't do enough volume to justify spending ungodly amount of money on getting a california certification.

Alex.

[88Vic]

If anything I lost torque with the exhaust system, but it sure sounds a hell of a lot better, or sounds at all rather.

Did you go 2.25" or 2.5" system? Eventually I'd like stock Mustang shorties (best quality being factory, better sound insulation than aftermarket so you don't hear as much engine noise through them) and custom catless downpipes to connect it to the stock 2" duals. I figure that'll un-restrict it but keep all the torque the lopo makes.

[knucklehead0202]

My system is full 2.5", completely unnecessary but I had most of the stuff already. If you wanna run mustang shorties, even stock, I'd just get a stock mustang h-pipe and hack it up to fit and leave your catback. If you've got stock duals and don't plan on adding much in the way of mods, you should be good. I plan on doing at least a full top-end on this motor, if not cam/HO conversion, as well as a stroker/blower down the road so I figure I have a good exhaust foundation at this point.

Alex, yeah, it's the same old story here in California, they want more than anyone is willing to offer, and the manufacturers mostly just don't bother. Kinda like the "California Safe Handgun Roster", which shrinks daily. When it costs so much just to sell things here, it really makes them have weigh cost vs. profit, nevermind just plain hassle. I'm thankful that there's anything out there that's legal here and it's actually one strong reason I sold my whale in lieu of a box; more Smog-Nazi friendly crap for the 5.0 than the torque-less wonder 4.6. Most older superchargers had the CARB E.O.# right on the serial plate on the head unit. No-brainer!

[DerekTheGreat]

I wanted to go 2.5" but the shop I take my stuff to for exhaust work said I'd lose low end torque if I opened things up that much, guess he was right. I was thinking of doing rusting or BBK shorties but perhaps I'll just let that go.

[knucklehead0202]

Don't get me wrong, if you intend to do any other motor work to your car, you'd never know the difference. The car is still very torquey compared to the mod motor turd I'm used to driving, and once I get some other stuff done I won't be missing any power. I believe in doing things once, so my exhaust is overkill now, but will be perfect when I get more work done. Plan accordingly, unless you get parts for free. Do a decent set of headers at least, even if you only go 2.25" the rest of the way.

[88Vic]

If you wanna run mustang shorties, even stock, I'd just get a stock mustang h-pipe and hack it up to fit and leave your catback.

Rather than buy one and have it customized, I'll just have new downpipes made with flanges to bolt up to the stock H-pipe. That H-pipe wasn't cheap so I'd like to keep it, until it rusts out, then I'll go full 2.5" since it'll be crush bent, that way it won't be too choked down in the bends.

[gadget73]

modding the front downpipes for a larger flange would be much easier to do than to try and mate a Mustang H pipe to the stock stuff. Also, no need for two H pipes.

[88Vic]

Yeah I can easily have 2.25" downpipes made, reduced to 2" to bolt to the stock H-pipe. I figure that'll unrestrict flow and keep torque, best of both worlds.

[gadget73]

The stock downpipes are actually 2.25". It goes down to 2" at the H pipe flanges. You need 2.5" flanges at the top end of the downpipe to fit up to the headers, but thats nothing an exhaust shop cant manage with minimal work.

[knucklehead0202]

Damn it Gadgo you caught me again, I always think in terms of fox mustangs, where the h-pipe is an assembly separate from the catback. So many years since my last fox and I'm still balling that for some reason. When I did the exhaust on my '98, I had them cut it off right after the cat-pipe flanges because that's where it necked down to that stupidass tiny pipe. I had them tie in with 2.25" and my x-pipe, and run 2.25" all way back. With the availability of the impala tailpipes, and my easy source for a mustang h-pipe, 2.5" seemed the natural choice on my box, nevermind the stupid-cheap price on the headers. I wouldn't put stockers on for any price, just seems dumb if you plan on mods.