cats exhaust and fun

["dms" <dms@domain.elided>]

hello all.
the astute of you may recall my past thread
on catalytic converters & how my car was making
noxious smells (sulfur) which was eventually attributed
to a bad catalytic converter. The car (86 spider) was
parked for awhile while, I, busy with other things (running
my business) did nothing. Later, upon changing the
plugs, noticed a LOT of crap fouling said plugs. I've
since surmised that the (I presume) mostly plugged
cat had contributed to the fouling of said plugs &
most likely the valves/heads. With this in mind, I'm
getting ready to change the cat, but have been thinking
that it would be wise to get said "crap" out of the engine
before fouling a new cat, and hence my idea to take a
couple of "italian tuneups" along a mostly deserted 
highway with the engine running w/o any exhaust system
save the manifold. 

Wondering, is this a good idea? How long should I
do this for? Is it safe to run w/o an oxygen sensor?

To note: the car sounds great sans exhaust, and has
a lot more power as well (probably due to said plugged
exhaust before, so don't ya'll go taking yr exhausts off
now..) 


dave sisson
86 grad, houston, tx

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