The previous owner of my car hollowed the cats, so I failed emissions of corse, and I was wondering If i could get away with only one cat to pass the test. Before I can get my collector plates and rebuild my engine (will be very emisions illegal) I have to pass 1 last emissions test, then I'm rebuilding every thing, this includes exhaust so any thing I put on will be immediatly ripped off anyways so I'd rather not get any thing expensive. Any reccomendations? I was thinking of putting on some crappy generic cats, or my friend said I could get away with putting steel wool in the cats, I've also heard of mixing gas with alcohol.

 

A good 3-way cat, with air pump tube *should* pass a sniffer test.

 

Get a decent cat, stock one from off here would work fine. Seafoam it, make sure your air pumps work and you should be fine. I passed with only one, small cat

 

combine what the previous two members said and you should pass. Here is my story...

Took 85 glse to local shop, Failed, idiot tech said that I was missfiring.
Replaced spark plugs, rotor, and cap
Took it to the same shop, Failed, idiot tech laughed at me.
Took it to a different shop, Failed, idiot tech said that I had an apex seal leak.
Sat and looked all over the forum for what to do. Then replaced one of my cats. (with cat from kragen)
Took it to the referee in chico. The techs said nothing. had a bunch of shop students gawking at my car though.
Then replace the second cat,(with one from kragen, took some enginering to get it in) so then I had two cats in line. Mutch like stock setup Then ran alc. for the test with high grade fuel. (like chevron supreeme)
Took it to referee. failed but only because my timing was off.
Fixed timing
Took it to referee. Passed happy as a clam and now its a to work and home beauty.

 

Hollow precats and a functioning main cat will get you by the visual and functional test no problem,providing everything else is in good order.

How long the main cat lasts depends on how good a quality the cat is.Cheapo's may only last a couple years.The Bonez cat on my car, which is rotary specific,has 6 hard years on it and still works great.
And of course,be sure the engine is fully warmed up and running well.

 

yea do a tune up before u go smog. Seafoam helps clean the carbon buildup internally then change ur spark plugs, cap, rotor, wires, OIL CHANGE, oil filter, new cat definately. bonez worked for me. get timing set to factory specs too. clean air filter and also have your mixture set to lean . that should really help your HC but up your CO and NO a little. so if its too lean, ur CO might fail so its ok to have ur mixture a little more rich because ur new cat should take care of the extra gas. sorry if i didnt make much sense. its complicated. damn smog regulations. i just passed but now my engine aint workin.. so not cool.

 

I have 2 options, 1 of these crappy aftermarket ones and rig it on, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda...28125724QQrdZ1 and chance failing again or I spend a $120 on the original style direct fit and hope some on on the forum takes it off my hands for much less then what I paid. Any body have any luck with universial cats?

 

225 for bonez

 

I think i'm going to go with the crappy universial cat and the denatured alcohol trick, also I'm sure i need new wires I acidentally pulled the wires out of the metal clip that goes on the plug and just recrimped it back, so i'm sure doing that'll help too.