Question about non-cat cars

I think it is a federal law that requires cats. Even if the area you live in doesnt have emission testing you could still fail state inspection if your area has one and you could also get a ticket from a highway patrol officer if he decides to look. Some people just hollow out the cats so by a quick glance they are still there but if you tap on them you can hear there hollowed.

That is correct; it's against federal law to remove them. However, the Federal Government has no enforcement arm that works traffic on this issue. No state trooper will write you a ticket for violating a Federal law. You must really live by your state regulations, and as you say, if your state has a law requiring them, a state trooper could look and write you a ticket. I have no idea if they ever do that, but I would think that many states probably look for emissions equipment to be present during safety inspections. I'm not going to speak for any state on that; maybe somebody else can.

The top layer is, if you live some place with air quality that's not in attainment with certain standards, then you'll have a local air quality program that requires emissions inspections, so in that case you have 100% enforcement at the local level.

Since 1970, air quality has improved dramatically, and there really aren't that many areas with bad air quality any more. However, there is a big push on to clamp down on particulates, and that will throw a lot of cities back out of attainment. If you look at actual air measurements for the last 30 years, there's been a big improvement. You don't hear much about that.

Here, (Central Washington State) we don't have inspections. I have been told that there are inspections in the Seattle area. There are rumors of pending legislation implement it state wide, but we have been hearing that since they sold leaded gas. Not having to worry about passing some emission standard is really nice. The guy who sold me the chip for the computer in my SHO made it clear that while it would improve performance, (it did) the car would not pass inspection with it installed. No problem. Bill

It is NOT an issue. The couple extra ponies you get from eliminating cats is not one bit meaningful on a street car. I am running a 331 stroker with

10.5 compression and a high performance cam (not radical). I have a Bassani X-pipe WITH cats and Bassani cat-back. Even IF I could gain 10 hp (not likely) from removing the cats that is ONLY 2% improvement. Clean air is important to me, my wife, my kids, and my grandkids. Polluting the air for a 2% gain (which I could never feel) is a really bad deal.

BTW my 331 stroker has all the original pollution equipment (no reason to remove it) and is TWICE as clean as the stock 302 it replaces. The stock engine measured 50% of emission standards; the 331 measures 25% of emission standards.

LJH

95GT

Those are high flow cats which cost alot of money, money some of us are not willing to spend to get less hp.

Well, you know what they say... Fresh air costs; how deeply do you want to breathe?

Wabbitslayer

01 GT vert

Up here in Alberta, we don't have any stinking emissions testing. We're far more right-wing than most right-wing states... Anyway, I dumped them day one on my 93. Put on some Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers with a Mac H-pipe. It sounds great! Totally quiet, but deep. But when you put the pedal to the floor, it gets louder, but it's a deep, mellow loud... not a look at my mufflers they are so friggin loud, loud.

Brad

Here in Tennessee in some counties you can take them off. I plan to yank MINE off as soon as I can afford it! My poor baby still has a California choke collar on her.

Kate

98 Cobra drop top

You have a very good point there Larry... Kate

| > Anyway, I was just curious. I know Houston for being such a big city is | > choked with regulations, but I always thought the cats on a car were | > required emmissions equipment...at least for a street-driven car. | >

| > If by chance anyone reading this lives in Houston and is running without | > cats, I'd love to know if you've ever experienced any trouble with | > testing. Thanks. | >

| > Randy | > 90 GT | >

| > We're living in a world that's been pulled over our eyes to blind us | > from the truth. Where are you, white rabbit? | >

| |

Nor do you hear much about how the reduction of forestry operations caused by the environmental movement has promoted forest fires involving much more land area than they did when timber and brush were cleaned out on a regular basis, like the '60s. Nor do you hear much about the fact that states like PA have air quality standards that are lower than the samples picked up at the border of the western border states. (that matters because if the air coming into the state by 'natural breezes' is above the threashold for "attainment", no matter what is done in that state will bring the state into that mystic place).

On a more relevant note, I have seen a 302 having come from factory with an air injection pump pushing air into the twin converters, and the full compliment of emmisions gadgetry, which as time wore on had the following occur: air pump froze in place, (pulley and belt removed, repair was too $$) both converters hollowed out, but still in place EGR valve rusted shut warm air intake hose rusted away to nothing most of the vaccuum lines leaking passing emissions tests with better numbers on the machines than when it had all this stuff working properly...

Emissions tests seem to me ( an ex inspector) more of a moneymaker for the DOT than actually doing anything for the environment.

Just my opinions, though,

Eric

Brad,

Years ago I thought emissions and emission's testing was a joke too. Then in the early 90's I moved overseas and lived in Ankara, Turkey for two years. Ankara is large city of a few million people with lots of city traffic. And all these vehicles at the time had absolutely ZERO emission controls. As a result, the air quality near the busy streets during rush hour was so bad I would drive home from work (my vehicle didn't have A/C) in 90 degree heat WITH ALL MY WINDOWS UP to form some/any sort of barrier from all the noxious fumes. You could literally see dark clouds of smoke hovering over the streets. (The expirience made me want to kiss my catalytic convertors when I got back to the States.) Since I've returned I've been a supporter of clean-air standards, and I now appreciate the "tree huggers" who lobby our government for tight pollution controls.

I say do the responsible thing...keep your pollution control equipment in-place and functioning properly.

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD