Re: Gutting cat's

[Jerry Chyo <jerryc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:18 AM 11/13/98 -0500, Duane wrote:
>Unless you are willing to install a set of Euro headers ( $ 2,000), gut the
>cat (OH MAI GAWD - THAT'S ILLEGAL !! Eeeek!) together with a cat-back
>exhaust ( $ 750), plus a new chip to manage it all ( $ 350), then you'll no
>see a measurable hp increase.  Even then, if you do ALL the above mods
>you're buying torque in the mid-range, not horsepower.

I replaced the Cat in my Brothers Passat and noticed that all of the
honeycomb crap had basically blown away (except for the 2-3 hunks that were
making all the rattling noise).  Are BMW cat's made the same way?  I
remember trying to gut the cat in an old Toyota truck about 20 years ago
and they had put metal shelfs on both ends to prevent this.  I was thinking
of getting a track pipe made, but if I can simply remove the innards, why
spend the $500.  That's $500 more I'll have towards my euro header.

BTW, if there are any E28 M5 brothers (or sisters) out there that have
installed the euro header in CA, how did you get past visual smog check
(GAWD I HATE THIS SILLY RULE)?

TIA

Jerry Chyo
'88 M5
'72 tii

PS  Thanks for the quick response to my flare wrench questions.  7mm, 9mm,
11mm and 14mm for those who care.

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