Exhaust upgrade question- Hollowing cats?

[Chromebrow]

My Mark has become a bit sluggish lately and I've come to the conclusion that it is my cats because I can smell them when I get on it real good.
I plan on doing a quick exhaust job on it but would like to make sure it makes since before I do it.

I am planning to hollow or cut out the cats/resonator, remove the third, replace with straight pipe and then upgrade the stock mufflers with some Magnaflows.

My questions are..
#1 Would removing or hollowing the cats upset the O2 readings and mess with performance?

#2 Which Magnaflows should I run. I'm not wanting it real load under normal driving, but don't mind it loud under acceleration. I am wanting a strong mustangish sound.

#3 What should I do with the cross pipe? I should be able to leave it in place, that should work right?

#4 Does anyone has new tips for sale for an outragous deal?

Thanks

 

[normohl]

1) yes gutting the cats will cause problems

2) with gutted cats and some flows it would be crazy loud.

most people don't gut the cats, I have herd replacing the resonated with an x or H pipe can get rid of the rotten smell and then go with some magnaflows.

 

[97SilverLSCcobra]

Mine are gutted but I have'nt gotten it running yet, so I could'nt tell you whether it messes with the performance. I don't know what to do about the driver side cat since it is all one piece. I can't afford headers right now but I need my car to run right! The driver side manifold and cat is like $1800 from Ford, the only place you can get it from!!! Keep some updates on here if you find something that works good!!! Thanks

 

[Sapperfire]

Mine are gutted but I have'nt gotten it running yet, so I could'nt tell you whether it messes with the performance. I don't know what to do about the driver side cat since it is all one piece. I can't afford headers right now but I need my car to run right! The driver side manifold and cat is like $1800 from Ford, the only place you can get it from!!! Keep some updates on here if you find something that works good!!! Thanks

you want you car to run right, but youve gutted the cats.... FAIL

Ive got the exhaust manifold with built on cat if you ever need, i wont charge near $1800 for mine either

 

[thaywood]

I can tell you from recent experience that getting rid of that third cat will eliminate the rotten egg smell. At least, it did on my wife's '97 LSC.

 

[Chromebrow]

My brother had a 95 t-bird and he gutted the cats and cut the exhaust at the end of the manifold and left it open. It actually sounded nice. Too loud for a luxury car but by no means unbearable. I would imagine if I left the pipe on it and put the magnaflows on it should sound okay.

I only have maybe $300 total to do this with and I would be happy to take suggestions.
I could hollow the cats, swap the resonator for an x pipe and then the dual mufflers...Would that be better?

Im hoping to do this next Saturday so any tips where to get a good deal on the the x pipe?

 

[cadillackman]

I bet your cats are fine. They all make that smell @ WOT with factory setup. Losing the 3rd cat will nearly eliminate the odor. If you're on a budget, just get the magnaflow x chamber muffler in place of the 3rd cat & run straight pipes out to the back. It's a good setup. Then you won't need to buy an x -pipe either, and you'll only need 1 muffler.

 

[Chromebrow]

so remove the resonator? Just to be sure thats the unit where the two meet and resembles an h pipe?

I can replace that with an h or x pipe and then will I need to run mufflers at all. It should sound pretty good with that alone.

 

[ripped camel]

I've got gutted cats and I replaced the third cat with a magnaflow dual in dual out X muffler. Gutting the cats is a dumb idea, I was pissed the guy gutted mine. I was specifically supposed to get straight pipes, but he returns the car and says it was too hard to do straight pipes with the ds header so he just gutted the cats. I was so pissed because I new a canister like the cat would cause turbulent flow which is why I wanted a straight pipe.

Honestly either get kooks headers and run a straight pipe, or get cobra exhaust manifolds and use straight pipes. Get an MIL eliminator to eliminate the O2 light....my SCT still has been unable to get rid of the O2 light.

Sound wise I think it sounds perfect. Not loud to attract attention, but aggressive enough to hear what you got under the hood

 

[THANATOS]

I've got gutted cats and I replaced the third cat with a magnaflow dual in dual out X muffler. Gutting the cats is a dumb idea, I was pissed the guy gutted mine. I was specifically supposed to get straight pipes, but he returns the car and says it was too hard to do straight pipes with the ds header so he just gutted the cats. I was so pissed because I new a canister like the cat would cause turbulent flow which is why I wanted a straight pipe.

Honestly either get kooks headers and run a straight pipe, or get cobra exhaust manifolds and use straight pipes. Get an MIL eliminator to eliminate the O2 light....my SCT still has been unable to get rid of the O2 light.

Sound wise I think it sounds perfect. Not loud to attract attention, but aggressive enough to hear what you got under the hood

Where can someone get a mil eliminator?

 

[cadillackman]

Summit, Jegs, anywhere really. You can also have it programmed onto a tune via chip or tuner depending on what year you have. You won't need it unless you mess with your front 2 cats though.