William Kisselstein

There are millions of vehicles on the road that have been altered in some way. Visit a car show to see some of them. You guys aren't going to believe this, but sometimes they put in a completely different engine than it came with - even from some other manufacturer. Yet they still are covered by insurance.

Emissions has no effect on the safety of the vehicle in a crash

I've been pulled over more times than I can count in 32 years of driving, sometimes in very loud vehicles, have at times run around with no muffler, and never once has a cop looked under the car. I'd bet 99.9% of cops wouldn't have the slightest idea what emissions equipment is correct for what car.

My 1989 Suburban with no muffler, just a cat, was loud as hell, so loud and annoying when the muffler fell off I bought stuff to repair it and did it in a parking lot before I returned home. When I junked the cat off it, they claimed it had nothing inside (guy just kind of held it and lifted it, never put it on a scale, so I question that), but if it was that way, I drove around with it for at least a year. Maybe longer. Got pulled over a couple times. Got at least one ticket with it.

My 1995 G30 also had a cobbled together exhaust with an aftermarket converter. It too had the muffler fall off and was loud and obnoxious. Clearly that's where all the sound deadening occurred. That converter went on to be used on two other vans; again nobody ever looked under except at inspection time and then all that mattered was that it was present.

You can even dial up channels like Cleetus McFarland on YouTube and watch as he and dozens of other guys go on Drag & Drive events, driving their cars hundreds of miles across multiple states from track to track, that have turbochargers or blowers added and basically no exhaust because it dumps right out the front of the vehicle somewhere. Cars like a 1985 El Camino and 1995 S10 Blazer, that were built with converters on them.

So my experience has been, if you are broke and can't afford to put cats back on there, don't worry about it, as long as you can make it quiet, nobody will give a damn, until/unless your state has some kind of inspection or emissions testing that requires one. Even if it's somewhat loud - my first Express was rather loud despite a full exhaust, it may have had a leak somewhere (came to me that way, was sold that way) - odds are it will be okay. If your state has no inspection - and many don't - then chances are no one will ever care about it, and the only reason to replace them would be if the lack of them causes driveability. issues.

Let's not be silly and try to scare a guy who maybe has to choose between $600 in parts for his car, or $600 towards his other monthly bills. There is no EPA fine fairy. Unless you get into diesel trucks.

mountainmanjoe

Congratulations on having a horseshoe up your wazoo.
If you're broke then you can't afford the ticket.

fivekidsandavan

I agree with everything you've said. Some people like to police the forums and comment about literally everything and anything like they are know-it-alls. Just check their post count to see how often they feel they have to comment (its more than daily)... Technically yes, you could get in trouble, but in my 30 years of driving, and 46 years on the planet, I've never experienced or heard of anyone experiencing a cop climbing under the car to check the emissions, the concept itself is laughable. If you cannot afford to replace the cat, go without. Every car I have has a check engine light on, my suburban has the wrong cats on, I live in California, the strictest inspection state, I have no fear someone is going to come tell me I'm technically not passable on inspection until the time comes for that. If you can't afford the repair, you CAN afford to "risk" it, at 100,000-1 odds that you actually get caught.

mountainmanjoe

I know. They even count your posts and snoop around in your history.

Ahh. It never happened to you, therefore it doesn't happen to anybody. Brilliant show of logic.

jimmydriver

If it's not going to be inspected run without them. If you had O2 sensors after the cats you might get a check engine light. Enjoy the increased HP and MPG.

mountainmanjoe

you won't notice any increase, if any, and quite possibly a decrease.