Rx7 rookie....clogged cat??

[Austin91rx7]

I have a 91 rx7 that is having a hard time starting....it sounds muzzled and bogged down. It finally started earlier and there was a knocking sound coming from the cat...it was also shaking pretty bad. I gave it a little gas and it seemed to force air through the cat and a lot of smoke started coming out. Before this happened I was already having issues with the rx7 not having any power and bogging down when trying to accelerate. Does this sound like a clogged cat? If so is it ok for me to just take it off until I can replace with a new one? Should i take off the front and main converter? Thanks for any advice you can give. Rookie

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[MidnightOwl]

My main cat broke apart and the catalyst turned sideways, restricting flow. The car lost all sorts of power, and on hills, would stall completely. It rattled around like a mother effer on decel. It's incredibly easy to remove it and check it out, so I'd suggest jacking car up and pulling it out. I pulled mine off and sliced it open to gut it. Ran fine after that. Made more noise, but it ran.

[freemanrx7]

Try getting rid of the first cats then see if the main one is OK. Most likely the first one fell into the second one. But you will have to take it off to see. If you gut all cats get ready for fireballs....... You can get rid of all cats on 89-92 models with no mods required. Use some kind of spray to loosen the bolts. If you want to still pass smog it will with just the main cat. Have fun!!!!!

[Austin91rx7]

Gonna go take that puppy off now. I have a feeling the cat has been causing me problems for a while.

Appreciate it fellas,

--Marc