well it happened..
 

cat cracked between 1st cat and flange to head pipes. buy the time i got home it looks like someone took a can opener to it. no shame for it its original.
i guess i can replace it will a high flow unit, although the county i live in doesn't have emissions testing.
is the anyone making a replacement flange or am i going to have to make it?

Re: well it happened..
 

Maybe I'm mistaken here, but I think a high flow cat would be useless unless you also replace the Y pipe with a larger diameter unit.

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trying to find one now with no luck. all kinds of cat-back set ups. i may just put some headers on it and go custom all the way. i was going to do new exhaust when i changed the tranny but cant wait that long now

Re: well it happened..
 

Find you a good independant muffler shop. They usually have someone GOOD with a shoe and die bender and they can bend you up a larger diameter probably pretty reasonably. Course....you'll need to have your converters with you because I wouldn't imagine they would bend you up one takin your word you were gonna put converters on it yourself. Sorta hefty fines from the gubmint for leavin them out ya know? I see Magnaflow does make a Y pipe with converters, but so far the only description I can findfor it is "direct fit". That would seem to indicate that it is a stock replacement. You might give Magnaflow a casll and see.

Re: well it happened..
 

i have a 99 four banger and i recently got a major exhaust leak somewhere near the cat. Is this a common problem seperating near the flange?

Re: well it happened..
 

It's common with all kinda makes. Converters have to get up to at least 600 degrees to even start workin. That ain't cold. All that heat causes stress cracks in all but the damned best of welds. That's why it's a pretty common problem. The welds have to be pretty much perfect. 'Specially since they keep thinnin out all the metal these things are made of.

Re: well it happened..
 

When I did my exhaust I cut the flange right off the cat, then welded in some 3" pipe. I had to beat it with a hammer to oval it out. This way I eliminated the cats and had a bolt on app. Now getting the flange unbolted and off might be a bit of a chore, but it worked. I just drilled the studs out of the flange and used grade 5 bolts to put it back together.

I can take a pic tomaro if you need a visual, I did another one for my plow truck.

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It doesn't matter, they won't be able to make the pipe fit worth a crap without the cats anyway. Its like trying to make pipes without the muffler, I haven't been able to do it in my 10 years around a bender. lol. and yes, last I heard the fine was 30k immediately and either 1 or 10k for each cat they found laying on your place.

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Puzackly. I mean, with high flow cats on the market, it just ain't worth it. Besides.....not it or believe, some vehicles do not respond well to removing cats. I've seen some that actually ran worse....and most were Fords.

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We had one case where a guy's friends talked him into gutting the cats on a Ranger (don't remember the year) and it would cut out when he hit 60 or above. put a glasspack in place of the cat, problem solved. the newer engines are designed to run with the back pressure/cats so removing them gives you nothing to gain

Re: well it happened..
 

the crack is from the flange to the 1st cat. i stopped and got a gasket this morning and will mill a new flange out next weekend. for now its welded ans it has stopped leaking. what i plan on doing is welding up a pipe to the new flange and transition it down to 2.5 inches and put a cat on it. i found a cat that has the rear o2 bung in it so its just some fabrication, no big deal. right now theres a cherry bomb glass pack on it, but i want something deeper.
Ill have no problems with whatever exhaust system I put on it, the neighbor is a inspection mechanic and has no problem with the way i plan to do it.
Most naturally aspirated Ford engines need back pressure in order to run correctly.
its just a matter of time to gather the parts and head to the shop to play. its nice to have a lathe, mill and welder to fabricate stuff

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Hopefully, that will get it done. What you usually run into though, is the metal in the flange area has thinned out from all the heat and has rusted. Usually, you cannot weld it at that point. Hope you're able to get it fixed though.

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wonder if it would help or hurt low end power if i built a 2 into 1 collector, run 2 sections of 2 1/2" tube into the collector, then a piece into the cat. from the cat to a muffler. below is the cat i found

http://performance-curve.com/25goerl...dii608216.aspx

Re: well it happened..
 

You've got me lost now. It sounds like you're talkin about fabbin up another Y pipe, then the cat after the Y pipe, is that correct? Doesn't your system have an o2 sensor on each bank?

Re: well it happened..
 

Well it sounds like what you're trying to do is use ONE cat AFTER the Y junction. I'm not sure that will work with thay system for one, and second, I don't know if it's legal. I'm not familiar with the 4.0 exhaust. Does it have one cat after the Y from the factory?