I was wondering if anyone on the forum has gutted the cats on their G? I did it before on my Hondas when I was 16. It just seems like a much cheaper alternative to spending hundreds on HFCs.

 

Gutting your cats produces test pipes, not HFC's.

You can recycle your cats for the platinum and BUY test pipes.

 

Test pipes are still $150-$200. It just seems easier to grab some rebar and a 5lb hammer and get to work.

 

You are lucky if you live somewhere that you can get away with test pipes. I was about to purchase HFC's and decided to research ability to pass the Colorado Front Range emissions test. A lot of guys have tried this with Mustangs and Camaros. Bottom line is that most of the techs will pass you on the visual mirror check but you have about 100% chance of failing the dyno test even with HFC's, let alone test pipes.

I'm still debating whether to do it knowing that I will have to go back to stock every 2 years :-(

 

OP, there's a reason people with these cars typically BUY HFC's or test pipes, instead of gutting them like the 16 year old Honda boys do...

 

You will have a cel light on all the time as well. Hfc and tp have extended o2 sensor housings to not get cel.

 

The whole point of running tests pipes or HFC is to reduce the restriction and turbulent flow of exhaust gases through the stock catalytic converter. Ive seen some low budget builds where guys have hammered out and then welded a pipe into the middle to reduce the turbulent flow and to pass visual inspection incase your state/province require cats. You need to remember in the end you will get CEL. Give it a shot see what happens but in all honesty you want the exhaust gasses to flow freely, if you go in to the cats and hollow out the cores you might cause even more restriction by changing the inner structure of the stock cats by having the exhaust gases not exiting straight through. The gasses could bounce around inside the cat and disrupt the flow. Give it a shot, take plenty of pictures and report back. Just keep in mind a set of used test pipes cost about $100-$150 if the mod gains you HP, Noise and a sense of self pride then you are winning.

 

Selling can get you new TS's if its a money thing. I wouldn't for the flow issues afterwards like said. If you do wear a mask! That dust is dangerous.