Got my Eastern Catalytics 200 cell metal core catalytic converter installed yesterday. It was $95 delivered from performance peddler.

Of note- the worst thing about the cat is the end pieces that slide over the exhaust. It's obvious this is where the cost is cut. These end pipes overlap the cat body by about a 1/2". That creates a giant lip - basically catching the exhaust as it exits the cat. Rather than install it this way, I cut the end of the cat off pre weld and removed the inner sleeve. I hammered out the 3" exhaust pipe using a ball-pein to get a good taper/flare that followed the cat body contour. That work surely negates the savings over a true MetalCat. Oh well.
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400 cell ceramic universal cat

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200 cell Eastern Catalytics metal core cat

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400 cell ceramic universal cat

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200 cell Eastern Catalytics metal core cat

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200 cell metal core left, 400 cell ceramic core right

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Eastern cat's big lip protruding into the cat body

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Eastern cat with end pipe removed

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Flared 3" exhaust pipe

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Tacking in place (note diy SST = Cheap tube jack stand with hole and nut welded to outer sleeve for an infinitely adjustable support)

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More fav tools (built a turn down pipe to swap out with the muff)

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built

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installed

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i bet that rubber hanger puller makes life easy. love the vice grips!

 

Good thinking ahead of time...A+++ for the turn down as well, I've been considering doing this myself, and tell you what, a V-band would be money well spent there.

 

btw, your welds look a lot like my HPV.

 

V-band is only a dream for me. Three bolt 3" flanges are just too cheap and they work. When I redo the dp (go to an EWG) I will most definitely do a vband there.

Yes, my welds aren't pretty. And flux core doesn't help. I need two days to get pretty welds on a project, the first day to practice welding since I only get around to doing it a few times a year.

 

I have to say, the weld is looking a lot better in the close up ;-)

Any noticeable difference?

I was expecting bigger, not smaller. It certainly won't clean the air as well as the old one, but the large gaps in it should let the exhaust out pretty well :-)

Is it possible to buy a tree hugger one that also flows well?

Fred.

 

welding and v-bands are overrated.

c-clamps are where it's at....mmmm and look at all the diff fluid.

 

I haven't gotten out today (make money first). Maybe tomorrow. But it MUST flow better, can't see how it wouldn't. Based on my research, I didn't find anybody who went from a ceramic universal/OE cat to a 200 cell metal can't and failed emissions. OTOH I did read that some had emissions CELs on OBDII cars with the 100 cell metal core cats. Besides, the 100 cells I found were 2-1/2 times the cost of the Eastern.

Here's an EVO that went from a 300 cell high flow ceramic to a 100 cell metal core:


I doubt the car will fail emissions with this cat given it's 18 years old and the standards are fairly low. IF it did (because of the cat), I'd probably stick the old cat on the end in place of the muffler.

Funny - I noticed the rear seal in my trans is leaking while doing the cat yesterday.

 

The OBDII stuff have a sensor in the CAT though don't they?

Vband :



FTW!! :-p ;-)

Fred.

 

OBDII has a post O2 for the very purpose of checking the cat's operation- which is why I cited that example since I didn't have any concrete data showing emissions for the ceramic vs. the metal and cell counts. I figured if the OE ecu thought it was ok, that was good enough for the emissions standards on my 18 year old car (not that I don't want to do better). But I passed last time with crap tune by me.

Yeah vband. And what's it cost? IIRC, it's about 3x the normal flange. Two 3 bolt 3" flanges and reusable copper gasket cost $9 and no leaks.

 

Hey brainy, mount your c-clamps with the bolts to the side, the way you've got it in the pic if so clearance comsuming. (in case you still have 'em like that).

 

For ease of install/removal ... its worth it imo.

 

OK, understood. Many cats i've seen also have a temp sensor in the cat itself. If you put in a new one without that, then that could trigger CEL lights too.

Cost, $2 for an audio pulley, 1hour on a lathe, 5 mins on a MIG, one clamp for about 10us, and I had to do it anyway, either that or weld a nice holset which would have turned my stomach. I'd also go for 3 bolt flanges further back, but off the turbo vband seems like the only way :-)

Fred.

 

I've heard the "ease of install/removal" but how often does one uninstall exhaust parts? It took me a good 60 seconds to undo the three bolts at the cat flange yesterday... I've got three of these flanges in my exhaust, so I saved about $60 not using v-band. Maybe it's cuz I'm used to the old stuff (besides being cheap).

I'm using the proprietary WG flange and that's the one place I could see using the v-band for adjustability.

1hour on the lathe - ummm... not worth my time maybe I should buy them from you

 

itll be welded eventually.

 

That depends on whether you enjoy using a lathe or not! I'd much rather spend 10 hours in front of a lathe than 10 minutes in front of an xbox. I LIKE using tools. If I didn't modding cars would be a rather **** hobby indeed! :-p

 

Improvement in spool, though inconsistent. Open loop target of 15psi was reached ~150 rpm sooner. The only thing changed in these runs was the cat.
This was running a map with open loop (duty) boost control. The big difference was boost levels after target. Old setup showed a peak of 15.8 falling to 15psi even. The new setup logged a peak of 15.8 rising to 16.5 psi. I'd say that's significant of increased flow. And as a bonus the exhaust is now rattle free thanks to the removal of that universal cat and it's heat shield.

I'll be sure to remove the muffler and run with the turn down in its place at the end of the dyno tuning session, just to see how much it's killing flow.

 

I figure I might as well add to this some because I just bought a 3" metallic core cat as well.

Magnaflow 59959 3" Matallic Core 300 Cell Spun Body $91.34 w/ Free Shipping
Bought from Performancepeddler.com as well. Call them to get this price, they always discount things when you call in and ask them to.









So this one is Magnaflow, doesn't have the weird piece of pipe sticking into it too far and it's cheaper.

I may or may not end up installing it. Tough decision really, we'll see.

 

Cheaper but at a price: less work and 50% more cells. Of coure I haven't had an emissions test yet either.

Your children would want you to install it.

You could always do flanges and make a test pipe. I was going to add a flange post cat, just ran out of time. Do you have emissions testing?

 

Nope no testing for me here. Never know where I'll be moving to that I will need testing though. I figure if I really cared though I can always send my paperwork to my family in Alaska and let them continue to register my stuff using power of attorney like they have been for the past 4 years.