>From: "Dave Willner" <dwillner@icontech.com>
>My front pipe broke off at the muffler and needs to be replaced. I
>understand that I can use an earlier pipe without the catalytic convertor
>or
>the hot air collector without any modifications. The car is stock and still
>equipped with everything it came with in 1980. Will I have any issues or
>problems in eliminating the convertor? It's registered as a classic, so
>it's
>not inspected (in detail). TIA
>
>Dave Willner
It seems strange that the pipe would break at the muffler. Are you sure
that it isn't
actually the part of the muffler inlet pipe that broke? - that is a fairly
common break
area, especially if the hanger at the diff is missing. Then you "just" have
to replace
the muffler (or have it repaired if it's otherwise in great shape).
If not, there's really no problem with dumping the converter and replacing
with
an earlier pipe from a driveability standpoint, however it's probably more
work than
it's worth. First of all, the front pipe on the cat models bolt to a flange
just behind
the bellhousing which is a pretty simple operation. Secondly, I'm pretty
sure that
you will have to replace the exhaust manifold because I don't think that the
converter
and the earlier pipe are the same size bolt patterns. At the very least,
you will have
to unbolt the converter from the manifold which is a real bear - after years
of heat
cycling, those bolts do not like to move!
I replaced my cat exhaust system with a non-cat system for a period of time
while
sourcing a replacement for my cracked exhaust manifold and really didn't
notice
any benefits in power or driveability. Certainly my gas mileage (which I
track) didn't
change. Unless there's other reasons, dumping the cat may simply be not
worth
the bother. You'll get more advantage removing the air pump belt.
(All of this assumes that your 1980 exhaust is similar to my 1978).
Best!
Greg Rowe
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