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Offroad H-pipe nightmare?
I have hi-flow cats, but wanted to get an offroad h-pipe to see what it would be like. However, I heard from my local mechanic that if you remove your cats, and you take your car to a shop and they see it, they are required to report you by law for a $10,000 fine! He even had it in writing. Does anyone know anything about this? Thanks.
------------------ Blueneonman - '95 5.0L Mustang GT Convertible | K&N Drop-in | FMS 9mm Wires | Hi-Flow Cats | Flowmaster 2 Chambers | Subframes | 6-pt Rollcage | 14deg Timing | Coolest Neon Lighting on a Mustang EVER! |
If your car is used for street purposes, yes, you can receive a 10,000 fine, but you will more than likely get a warning. Most shops aren't that stupid, they don't want that kind of reputation.
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Thanks for the input...the only thing i'm worried about here is ******* cops who get pissed at streetracers like me and proceed to perform thier 100-pt inspection on your car. If they find it, they can report you just as well. My mechanic also said he's known of a few people who got the fine. Has anyone out there gotten one or known of anyone who has?
------------------ Blueneonman - '95 5.0L Mustang GT Convertible | K&N Drop-in | FMS 9mm Wires | Hi-Flow Cats | Flowmaster 2 Chambers | Subframes | 6-pt Rollcage | 14deg Timing | Coolest Neon Lighting on a Mustang EVER! |
a mechanic from my area put a v8 in an s10 and since it didnt' have any of the smog equipment hooked up a state trooper caught the guy and he squeeled on the mechanic. The mechanic got a $100,000 dollar fine. Another mechanic I know will work on them but always writes FOR RACING USE ONLY and he says that takes the liability off of him. It's a risky thing to do but alot of people take the risk
------------------ 4 cyl converted to 302 comp cams cam, ported GT 40 heads, Edelbrock intake, holley carb Turbo coupe rear with 373's 4 inch cowl hood finally done after what seemed like forever!!!!! |
Ok.. this may or may not matter..
On my Z ive got some hooker LT's going into a catless ypipe and then into a 4" mufflex exh. When we had the ypipe fabbed up, we actually took the tags off the car and towed it to the shop, telling them it was strictly a race car. They believed it when we fired it with open headers hehe. Anyway.. Whether this will help or not, i dont know. But if you can get low enough to see under my car, you can see the catless ypipe.. im actually thinking about tack-welding the old heat shield off my cat onto the piping. At least then it'll appear to have one. Hi-flow cats are loud too y'know http://www.mustangworks.com/msgboard/wink.gif Just an idea. Phil Jerico Performance |
Okay now I am freaking out, I had no clue of the fine associated with using an off road h-pipe on a street vehicle. Is this fine for every state? If so, I will have to replace my new h-pipe for a high flow cat h-pipe and slap on all of my smog assembly back on...Oh brother, this just sucks...Sorry had to vent.
------------------ 91 LX Convertible Gray on Red B&M Shift improver kit,ASP red alum. underdrive pulleys, Richmond 3.73 gears, 1 5/8 Flowtech long tube Headers and off road h-pipe, Flowmaster 2-chamber cat-back with S.S exhaust, MSD 6A Ignition with coil,Cap and rotor, Taylor Pro wires, K&N 12" conical filter system, Jet stage 2 performance chip and just purchased some GT40P heads, looking at exhaust, Lentech Street Terminator plus on it's way... |
In Florida, this past year, they got rid of the emissions testing, so that should save you some grief there... I have been running off roads for about 4 or 5 years now without any problems... *knock on wood* I have been pulled over numerous times and the cops only asked what I did to the car "it sounds mean" LOL Most cops aren't gonna crawl under your car to have a look at your cats, so I really wouldn't sweat it too much.... Just do the work yourself if you are really worried. It's a pretty easy job, unless you want it welded in!! Good luck!
------------------ Joe! 1988 GT, 167,000 miles!!! 13.71@105mph Check out my listing! Click here! Or my website: www.joe4speed.com 1999 Ninja ZX-6R 10.32@135mph! "What was the best thing before sliced bread?" |
We do not have emission testing here either, so I should relax, or should I try to better be safe than sorry. I do most of my own work, but I will not be putting in the new tranny, should I be concerned that someone may report me? Sorry for a follow-up, but I had no idea that the fine could be that extreme, could I play dumb and say I got the car this way and had no clue it was against the law?
------------------ 91 LX Convertible Gray on Red B&M Shift improver kit,ASP red alum. underdrive pulleys, Richmond 3.73 gears, 1 5/8 Flowtech long tube Headers and off road h-pipe, Flowmaster 2-chamber cat-back with S.S exhaust, MSD 6A Ignition with coil,Cap and rotor, Taylor Pro wires, K&N 12" conical filter system, Jet stage 2 performance chip and just purchased some GT40P heads, looking at exhaust, Lentech Street Terminator plus on it's way... |
Well, I've been doing my research on this issue lately. Where I'm from (Orlando), there are BIG street races there and cops get real pissed. I've talked to guys in mustangs that say they get pulled over just for being a mustang! I've heard stories about cops popping peoples hoods and giving them tickets for illegal intakes, etc. No emission testing doesnt eliminate the law either...my mechanic said that. So I guess you're on your own. In conlusion, I think I will stick with the hi-flows...thanx ya'll
------------------ Blueneonman - '95 5.0L Mustang GT Convertible | K&N Drop-in | FMS 9mm Wires | Hi-Flow Cats | Flowmaster 2 Chambers | Subframes | 6-pt Rollcage | 14deg Timing | Coolest Neon Lighting on a Mustang EVER! |
The hi-flow cats flow some pretty good numbers. I'm running them and I just dyno'd 277 RWHP. I guess I could have gotten 10 more (maybe) without them, but then I've heard you run into problems with not enough back pressure for the O2 sensors.
------------------ 86 GT, GT40P heads, Crane 2031, 1.7 RR's, Cobra intake, 65mm TB, 73mm Vortech, 24# injectors, MAC GT40P headers, 2-1/2" BBK H-pipe (w/cats), Flowmasters, 3.55s, Groundpounder subs and lower control arms, 277 RWHP. www.mustangworks.com/cgi-bin/moi-display.cgi?1537 |
Unless you are highly modded, changing from a good hi flow cat setup to an off road pipe will not make much, if any noticeable difference in power and will usually kill some low end torque. This has been proven in many magazine tests and I have proven it to myself on my own car as I went back to a set of hi flows last year after running an off road pipe for about a year and a half. With the cats the car definitely has more low end snap and is slightly quicker in the 1/4. Also around here the penalty for getting caught without cats is severe - cases of $5,000+ fines for removal of emission equipment have happened and to me, its just not worth the risk of getting caught.
------------------ 1965 K code coupe - numbers matching - restoration ongoing. 1987 LX notch, 5 spd, stock heads (minor porting) and intake, 65mmTB, 3.55's, ram air, pulleys, shorty's, 2.5" exhaust with cats 13.89@100.25 |
I think everyone is a LITTLE too paranoid here...half the cops around are too stupid to know the difference in sound with high flows or nothing at all, and the other half are just too damn lazy to check. I've been running offroads on my cars for years and years, since my 88 GT in High School, and I have gotten pulled over for a lot of stupid $hit over the years, but never gotten my stones busted for exhaust {KNOCK ON WOOD}...the coupe in my sig has an offroad with 2-chambers and dumps on an angle before the rear...I just got clocked last week doing 50 in a 30, and it was about 20 degrees out {gotta love CT} and I'd be damned if I was gonna turn that sucker off and freeze my jewels off for that a$$hole....I drove away 10 minutes later with a warning for the speeding, thats it...just one example....
DMV checkpoints, sobriety checkpoints.....I cruise right through....don't sweat it... ------------------ 1992 5.0 LX, V-1 S-Trim @8LBS, Edelbrock 6037 Heads, Cobra Intake,E-303, 1.6 Roller Rockers,65MM Holley TB, 75 MM Pro M Mass Air, 190 LPH FP w/ 24 lb injectors,MSD 6A and BTM, BBK equal length shorties, offroad h-pipe,Mac Flowpath Mufflers, Pro 5.0, 3.73's,Motorsport "C" springs,welded subframe connectors, Ponies w/ 225/50 Nittos, Dark Green w/ 93 Cobra Spoiler Daily driver: 89 Coupe with 207K plus, BBK shorties,offroad h-pipe,2-chamber flowmasters with dumps |
Removing the cats on any car is a federal offense.
Federal law dictates a $10,000 fine. It doesn't matter if you are in an emissions testing area or not. Whether or not the fine is really issued or a fixit ticket is another deal. Many people run them, 99% get away with it. I'm not gonna chance it I don't think, plus when I got my hi-flow there was emissions testing in the Twin Cities metro. Not any more, but why take the risk? |
The sound......thats all I got to say
After a few years of paranoia I learned that its worth it for the head turning blaring exhaust...I personally think that the cats sound like ****....buts that a whole other topic... Lets put it this way, all of us are building all of these nasty street cars, right??? How many of these cars might appear legal, but actually aren't??? You may have the cats, but hwta sthe point if you have 500+ ponies creepin around under the hood...Its like getting all dressed up to go out but not brushin your teeth http://www.mustangworks.com/msgboard/biggrin.gif ------------------ 1992 5.0 LX, V-1 S-Trim @8LBS, Edelbrock 6037 Heads, Cobra Intake,E-303, 1.6 Roller Rockers,65MM Holley TB, 75 MM Pro M Mass Air, 190 LPH FP w/ 24 lb injectors,MSD 6A and BTM, BBK equal length shorties, offroad h-pipe,Mac Flowpath Mufflers, Pro 5.0, 3.73's,Motorsport "C" springs,welded subframe connectors, Ponies w/ 225/50 Nittos, Dark Green w/ 93 Cobra Spoiler Daily driver: 89 Coupe with 207K plus, BBK shorties,offroad h-pipe,2-chamber flowmasters with dumps |
Quote:
------------------ Joe! 1988 GT, 167,000 miles!!! 13.71@105mph Check out my listing! Click here! Or my website: www.joe4speed.com 1999 Ninja ZX-6R 10.32@135mph! "What was the best thing before sliced bread?" |
green92lx: that was a classic comparison! kinda nasty, but classic!!
ha ha ha oh well. the only reason i dont run cats is that they are about 3 times more expensive than the off road pipes. of course if i got that ridiculous ticket, they wouldnt even compare!!! thats just ridiculous though. if you cant talk your way out of that one,,,,,man,,,, id have to sell my car to pay that fine!!!! F@CK THAT! Q ------------------ Quin, 87 GT,306,forged pistons,edelbrock head\intak,steeda#18cam,1.7rr,MSD Blaster tfi coil,A9L,pro-m75mm,24#inj,accufab65mm,2.5"pipes,hooker headers,dynomax exhaust,3.73 gr,110 lph fp,180*therm,moroso cold air,ASP pullies, weld rims The beast has awoken! I see your shwartz is as big as mine, now lets see how well you handle it! |
I see someone has mentioned gutting the cats. One of my friends has a '94 Mustang GT and he wants to gut his cats but he is having a hard time. For those that dont know, the 94-98 Mustangs have 4 cats on them. The front cats were cleared fine. The ones towards the mufflers are over piping that's twisted, so a long object can't get all of the element out. What should he do to get all the element out?
------------------ Blueneonman - '95 5.0L Mustang GT Convertible | K&N Drop-in | FMS 9mm Wires | Hi-Flow Cats | Flowmaster 2 Chambers | Subframes | 6-pt Rollcage | 14deg Timing | Coolest Neon Lighting on a Mustang EVER! |
I used a piece of copper tubing that bends but stays pretty firm on a pipe for my buddy's 90 GT...and yes, the 87-93 had 4 cats too....just move it around in there and keep bangin that sucker on the ground til its quiet in there...
------------------ 1992 5.0 LX, V-1 S-Trim @8LBS, Edelbrock 6037 Heads, Cobra Intake,E-303, 1.6 Roller Rockers,65MM Holley TB, 75 MM Pro M Mass Air, 190 LPH FP w/ 24 lb injectors,MSD 6A and BTM, BBK equal length shorties, offroad h-pipe,Mac Flowpath Mufflers, Pro 5.0, 3.73's,Motorsport "C" springs,welded subframe connectors, Ponies w/ 225/50 Nittos, Dark Green w/ 93 Cobra Spoiler Daily driver: 89 Coupe with 207K plus, BBK shorties,offroad h-pipe,2-chamber flowmasters with dumps |
Thanx for the advice green92lx http://www.mustangworks.com/msgboard/smile.gif. We used a piece of steel strapwire like you said and my friend is very happy now. Only thing is, there is llike some steel mesh jammed at the end of the cats and we dont know how to get it out. It looks as though it could be a real chocker for the engine. What do you think? Should we leave it or try and get it out?
------------------ Blueneonman - '95 5.0L Mustang GT Convertible | K&N Drop-in | FMS 9mm Wires | Hi-Flow Cats | Flowmaster 2 Chambers | Subframes | 6-pt Rollcage | 14deg Timing | Coolest Neon Lighting on a Mustang EVER! |
I think you could talk your way into a fix=it ticket and plead not knowing it. I'm gettin kinda nervos now! I did have a CHP crawl under my car once when I had no cats. But my car was so low I dont think he could tell, he didnt say anything.
SKyler ------------------ -1989 Saleen Mustang #406- TFS Heads, E-303, edelbrock intake,70MM TB, 73mm MAF, off road H, 2 1/4" exhaust, and 4.10's. 332RWHP@5500 351RWTQ@3750 Runs on 87 Octane! |
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