need to know for a guy i know. Midas is screwing him over and gutted his cat

car-

90 5speed non turbo

 

i think any catback is legal as long as it does not exceed a certain decibel level.

 

Are you talking about sound or emissions here?

RB, imo is legal as far as sound goes (it almost sounds like stock), as for emission legal, I never seen one. And I'm 99% sure it doesn't exist.

 

They gutted his cat? Is that the problem, or the exhaust?

I know for a fact in Cali that no one will hassle you about a cat-back system provided it is together and working properly.

 

well the way I see it the emissions equipment ends at the cats and the sound emmissions at the mufflers.

As long as you keep your cats and other emissions parts untouched it should pass smog no problem.

IF you keep you cats and GUT them you'll never pass no matter the catback.

If you buy an N1 style catback you might still pass smog but might be loud ( i don't remember hearing an N1 style WITH cats though so i'm not 100% sure)

 

well they guttewd his cat without asking .
and he passed emission before that but the cat glowed cherry red. they put some itty bitty cat on it (universal)
im talking about exhaust gases (emissions)
mazda wants 2300 for just the main cat and 250-400 for both pre cats. so this is the dilema.

 

Try posting a WTB in the adds section. I removed my main cat asap.

I wonder how long that ittty bitty cat will last?

 

2 days, then he'll turn it on. Can't you complain to some federal agency?? it's illegal to do what these people did (granted 90% of the people on this forum do the same thing, but it's willingly)

 

yea time to make midas buy you that expensive *** Mazda cat

 

The itty bitty "universal" cat will die a horrible death from the super hot rotary exhaust. The Bonez units are supposed to be ok, though if you drive them on race tracks they won't last:

http://www.rx7.com/store/rx7/fcexhaust.html

 

he is dealing with the bbb right now and some legal action against the shop

 

sounds good

 

If Midas is going to pay for new cats, why not upgrade to something freer-flowing. I had a Bonez cat/Borla cat-back on my '90 NA for about five years and passed PA emissions with no problems. When I moved to MD, the cat seemed to die because I failed by a wide margin. I got a Random Technology cat and again passed with flying colors.

I'm not sure how tough Tennessee emissions are, or even if your friend's car is in TN though.

 

No aftermarket cats are CARB or emissions legal unless they have been specifically approved by CARB for our car...and guess what...there arent any.

However, the Bonez superflo system has been known to last well and pass the sniffer...so that will do fine as long as the tech doesn't know that its aftermarket.

--Alex