Well I'm finally revisiting this issue. Yup after all this time, I still have the OEM cats in there with a leak b/w Cat 1 & Cat 2 (flanges are too deformed to get a clean mating surface), and now also found a small rusted hole in front of Cat 2. Awesome!!
So, I've got an 800+ roadtrip this weekend and ran out of time to do the cut-n-swap project. Looks like I'll be slathering JB Weld in those 2 locations and letting it sit overnight. Should help by the time i set off early in the AM.
I've called around and although there aren't many mom&pop muffler shops in NoVA, I did find one in Vienna that's intrigued by the project. Really no way to know what the fabrication/installation cost will be until I show up at the shop with the materials in hand for him to look at and inspect the OEM pipes he'll have to weld to.
The issue at hand is 2-fold: 1) Decide which Magnaflow cat model to purchase; and 2) A concern I have about the weld locations.
1) I've boiled the model choices down to either the High-Flow Spun version (
#59906 2.5ID Offset/Offset design, or the
#59956 2.5in/out Center/Center), or the
16" long Heavy Duty "heavy metal" model
Between the 2 Spun models, I think the Offset #59906 version will tuck up better . I'd like to hear any actual experiences with either of these models.
2) When I inspected the locations where the cats would be cut away, it was a bit startling to see that there was MAYBE about 1/2" of pipe left until making contact with the O2 bungs. Is that going to be enough space of pipe material to get a good weld without having to purchase new bung mounts from Slee?
Thanks for the input.
