Hey all.
I have a 90 stock EX that I use as a daily drive.
Few months ago I discovered my stock catalytic converter was partially clogged as about half the honeycomb had fused into a lump. I took out the fused portion and planned on replacing the whole cat with a higher grade one before my next smog check.
Went to replace it last month and found out that the CA lawmakers had passed a new law that says I can only buy an approved cat for a CA registered vehicle. It’s illegal to even ship a non-approved cat into the state. The approved cats must have a 5 year / 50k mile warranty vs the old 2 year. They also must have markings on them that say they are CA approved.
Because of this, the price for a crappy CA cat is now about double what it was a few months ago and double the price of a non-CA cat. So I didn’t buy the better quality CA (which is also double the price), I just bought the cheapest bolt-in CA approved cat I could find from Napa.
The approved CA cats of this brand for the EX, DX and LX are all the same model and when I swapped it in I saw the intake of the cat has a smaller diameter than the stock cat. There is a 2”-to-1 ¾” adapter welded on the cat. So that new cat adapter is now a choke point in my larger diameter exhaust.
My question: Am a losing any power by having the smaller diameter cat on?
I can easily swap the old, partially empty cat back on after the smog check. Would doing this, or even taking all the remaining honeycomb out and putting the empty old cat back on, give me better performance than the new, smaller diameter cat?
I was happy to spend my money on a better quality cat but I’m betting the only difference tween a standard cat and the CA approved one is lettering on the cat and maybe additional welds on the seam to prevent rust through and now I’m feeling like the state of CA is screwing me (again).
I have a 90 stock EX that I use as a daily drive.
Few months ago I discovered my stock catalytic converter was partially clogged as about half the honeycomb had fused into a lump. I took out the fused portion and planned on replacing the whole cat with a higher grade one before my next smog check.
Went to replace it last month and found out that the CA lawmakers had passed a new law that says I can only buy an approved cat for a CA registered vehicle. It’s illegal to even ship a non-approved cat into the state. The approved cats must have a 5 year / 50k mile warranty vs the old 2 year. They also must have markings on them that say they are CA approved.
Because of this, the price for a crappy CA cat is now about double what it was a few months ago and double the price of a non-CA cat. So I didn’t buy the better quality CA (which is also double the price), I just bought the cheapest bolt-in CA approved cat I could find from Napa.
The approved CA cats of this brand for the EX, DX and LX are all the same model and when I swapped it in I saw the intake of the cat has a smaller diameter than the stock cat. There is a 2”-to-1 ¾” adapter welded on the cat. So that new cat adapter is now a choke point in my larger diameter exhaust.
My question: Am a losing any power by having the smaller diameter cat on?
I can easily swap the old, partially empty cat back on after the smog check. Would doing this, or even taking all the remaining honeycomb out and putting the empty old cat back on, give me better performance than the new, smaller diameter cat?
I was happy to spend my money on a better quality cat but I’m betting the only difference tween a standard cat and the CA approved one is lettering on the cat and maybe additional welds on the seam to prevent rust through and now I’m feeling like the state of CA is screwing me (again).
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