What happened? They generally aren't wear items, if you can find a stock replacement one that'd be best.

 

They are when they are original and 27 years old! lol

 

You not mentioning street or performance needs? Exact fit or other? Stainless, iron or alloy? where does YOUR preference lie?

For the street your dealer will rock your world about $500. Aftermarkets go for a little over $100. (Don't get me started on Toyota upcharging!!)

You'll find performance cat's more of a shopping chore for design type from $200-300.
with different locations in the exhaust flow.

This might make for a interesting discussion?

 

Performance cats are useless for most power levels.

OEM cats are not over priced. Consider the fact that a properly running mk1's cat will last 200k miles and 25 years. try that with your $100 aftermarket cat.

That said I've been satisfied with magnaflow cats on pre obd and obd-1 cars. They do their job and appear to be very high quality. Just dont put one on an obd-2 car.

 

What's a catalytic converter? ;p

 

lol @ MRspeeder I am interested in stock performance. Must be a direct fit. No welding! I have seen brands such as Magnaflow, DEC etc.. I have been warned about the cheap aftermarket ones but which ones are those?

I want to know what YOU guys and gals have and have they performed properly, passed your emission tests etc..

Yes, I live in California BUT I just got the car and it came from Kansas City and I have NOT registered it. Soooooo I can get a Federal Emissions converter which supposedly is way way cheaper but we all know the previous owner JUST replaced it before he sold it to me ;-)

 

Gee, no other responses? Surely most of you have had to replace a Catalytic converter at one time no?

 

I build new bolt-in cats (using Magnaflow blanks) for AW11. You'd want the NA version:
http://www.sv3power.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=67&products_id=186

There is an option for a metallic core upgrade if you prefer that over the standard ceeramic core.

My stuff is 100% bolt in, and new gaskets and premium hardware are always included, so there are no surprises when you go to install it.

 

I build new bolt-in cats (using Magnaflow blanks) for AW11. You'd want the NA version:
http://www.sv3power.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=67&products_id=186

There is an option for a metallic core upgrade if you prefer that over the standard ceeramic core.

My stuff is 100% bolt in, and new gaskets and premium hardware are always included, so there are no surprises when you go to install it.

I thought that you wouldn't/couldn't ship those to CA?

 

:dontknow: You ask too many questions, comrade.

As far as I know, the order had a 49-state shipping address.

 

Cali will look at your car when you get tested. It needs to be a Cali approved cat.

 

ok let me clarify. My car isn't a California emissions car nor is it registered to me in California. It still has a Missouri title.

 

and te51levin, I will be contacting you on Wednesday

 

Sounds good. If it is regarding SV3Power parts, contact me through the SV3Power site so I can keep it separate from the Lithia day job stuff, please.

 

Not trying to block you from buying from Aaron but keep in mine that living in Cali they require you to register your car within a couple weeks of living there. You can get around it but depending on where you live, I have seen cops keep track of certain cars from out of state and if they see you around with out of state plates for a while they will pull you over and inspect/ticket/impound your car/ etc......

I would seriously consider asking Aaron to provide you with a Cali legal cat.

 

CA's new cat law requires every cat sold or moved in to the state to be CARB(? right agency) approved. That means every approved cat has to go through a certification and now costs $400-500 whereas uncertified they were $100 give or take. Mostly give. Also means that it is illegal to ship an uncertified cat in to CA.

You either have to pay up or skirt the law.

 

The really sad part and actually quite fraudulent is that the CARB approved cat is no more efficient or effective than a 49 state converter is. If my car would perform better, ( read, less emissions) then I am all for it, but honestly, its just a money game. Always has been.

When I moved to California, I had a very nice 84 Rabbit GTi. It would easily pass CA emissions. I was informed that at the time, there would be a 300.00 fee for bringing in a Federal emissions vehicle. I was also informed ( directly from the Bureau of Automotive Repair) that it had NOTHING TO DO WITH EMISSIONS and that it was to recoup the fees that the manufacture did not pay when the car was first produced.

In other words, all they wanted was my money. Well, I said screw that! I was a poor college student and did not have the 300.00 to just piss away. So I went and got a CA emissions label from a junked car and replaced mine with it.

It passed and BLEW CA emissions levels off the chart. NO difference otherwise.

The law was later repealed as unconstitutional.

If you are gonna make laws, then be HONEST about it so people will be honest in obeying them.

An illegal contract is still illegal no matter WHAT it says in the contract. Same thing goes for a law.

My car is a federal emissions car and it WILL get a federal emissions cat if I so demand it.

 

That's cool and I totally understand your point. I went through the same thing when I moved to Cali years ago with my MK1. I had a brand new exhaust system that I had built with a real nice cat. I went to get tested and the guy gave me a hard time about the cat because it was not CARB certed, as well as my header and a broken VSV. He let it all slide except for the VSV though. I fixed that and it passed with flying colors.

 

I would seriously consider asking Aaron to provide you with a Cali legal cat.

This is not as expensive as I previously thought. I will be adding California legal options to my catalog within the week!

 

That's cool and I totally understand your point. I went through the same thing when I moved to Cali years ago with my MK1. I had a brand new exhaust system that I had built with a real nice cat. I went to get tested and the guy gave me a hard time about the cat because it was not CARB certed, as well as my header and a broken VSV. He let it all slide except for the VSV though. I fixed that and it passed with flying colors.

Was the car in your name already? Then you were screwed. As far as California is concerned, I just bought the car. The current title is in another persons name and state

 

The really sad part and actually quite fraudulent is that the CARB approved cat is no more efficient or effective than a 49 state converter is. If my car would perform better, ( read, less emissions) then I am all for it, but honestly, its just a money game. Always has been.

When I moved to California, I had a very nice 84 Rabbit GTi. It would easily pass CA emissions. I was informed that at the time, there would be a 300.00 fee for bringing in a Federal emissions vehicle. I was also informed ( directly from the Bureau of Automotive Repair) that it had NOTHING TO DO WITH EMISSIONS and that it was to recoup the fees that the manufacture did not pay when the car was first produced.

In other words, all they wanted was my money. Well, I said screw that! I was a poor college student and did not have the 300.00 to just piss away. So I went and got a CA emissions label from a junked car and replaced mine with it.

It passed and BLEW CA emissions levels off the chart. NO difference otherwise.

The law was later repealed as unconstitutional.

If you are gonna make laws, then be HONEST about it so people will be honest in obeying them.

An illegal contract is still illegal no matter WHAT it says in the contract. Same thing goes for a law.

My car is a federal emissions car and it WILL get a federal emissions cat if I so demand it.

It's good that some employees can be honest about it, but making a law to "recoup lost revenue" is totally disgusting. The car wasn't shipped to CA when it was manufactured, Ca was never owed a dime they could recoup. It's been said a million dimes, scrap visual, stick to sniffer only pass/fail. I don't care if it's a GT40 1.06 AR 800whp monster, if it runs within emission specs get off my back about it.

 

I will be adding California legal options to my catalog within the week...

Done. California legal bolt-in catalytic converters are now available to order at www.sv3power.com.

 

Was the car in your name already? Then you were screwed. As far as California is concerned, I just bought the car. The current title is in another persons name and state

Not sure what you mean here. I wasn't screwed on anything, he let me slide on the header and cat but most places won't. They don't care when you bought it or where or who from, when you register it it will need to pass emissions and a visual inspection where they look at your cat to verify it is cali legal.

 

So I guess even though the 300.00 fee was declared unconstitutional, they figured out a way to get that money another way eh? Of course! And they hide behind the statement that they need to make sure that it lasts beyond a certain warranty time frame ( which I admit is a good excuse)... But they still dont say that its any cleaner burning..

 

For the street your dealer will rock your world about $500. Aftermarkets go for a little over $100. (Don't get me started on Toyota upcharging!!)

In the case of the MR2 it's very reasonable. OEM catalytic converters must pass the stringent initial EPA tests for performance and durability. Aftermarket stuff? Most of it's garbage. OE catalysts actually clean your exhaust noticeably better than even an OBD2 CARB-approved aftermarket replacement.

Case in point: My car blew ~90% of failure #s for HC and CO with an aftermarket brand-new turd Magnaflow cat that was CARB-approved. With a high-mileage factory catalyst is blew nearly 0s. No other changes or modifications.

This is one of those times where Toyota isn't really ripping you off. They're supplying you with a high quality product that is going to work and last.

Performance cats are useless for most power levels.

OEM cats are not over priced. Consider the fact that a properly running mk1's cat will last 200k miles and 25 years. try that with your $100 aftermarket cat.

Thank you. :thumbup

What's a catalytic converter? ;p

It's one of those things that makes your car not smell like a burning swamp.