My car is having a problem passing emmissions. Yeah, I could of had my crooked guy just slap the stickers on and chatrge me extra but I really wanted to know why? I first ran the Guar2pass stuff through my tank then I used 94 octane and drove to Baltimore on easter Sunday. I also swithced to CAI then I took it back and still fails. My mech scanned it and tells me I need a CAT. I had a CAT put on about 2yrs ago at Meineke. Do they go bad that fast. I paid abt $100 bucks. My current mechanic is an ACDelco service ctr and tells me it may cost me abt $200- $250. My question is: How is a bad CAT affecting my performance? Do I really need it? And should I go stock or is there an upgrade for better performance. When I askd my mechanic if this bad CAT affects horsepower, etc he couldn't give me a straight answer. Thanks in advance for your input. :? :?:

Go with a Magnaflow or Carsound cat. (They're the same thing)

Get a performance unit. They flow better than stock. If your emissions guy tells you it'* bad, and you trust him, go with it. A cat can be a HUGE contributor to bad emissions. Think of it as the 'scrubber' in the system.

You should be able to do it for under 150 including labor. Shop around.

Yes I do trust this mechanic> He'* done a lot for me he knows I'm car literate and I've sent a lot of people to him because of his professional work and so on.. But hey I midas well get a magnaflow Cat and Magnaflow (F body) muffler while I'm at it right?? Is there a website or retail store you know I could get these products in about a week? What do you think about the muffler idea?

Try www.justmagnaflow.com

Get the F body crossflow muffler and a cat. I personally like my Magnaflow setup (I also have a 3" Magnaflow resonator). Keep your stock resonator! You'll regret taking it out, and you'll gain nothing by doing so.

I like the idea

Removing the res (and cat for that matter) while having a Magnaflow mufffler can get a bit loud. That'* what I got.

Im not sure if it'll work with your car but you can have my brand new in the box Magnaflow Cat for $55 shipped. I kinda have the setup you are looking for except that its not the Fbody muffler. The difference between the Fbody muffler and mine is just that the pipe that has the single out/in is in the center.

Are the CAT for SE and SSEi different bec I called Magnaflow this morn to order and they sd they had a direct bolt up CAT for 3.8 that'* not */chrgd. Or should I be the getting the universaL?

There'* alot listed on the website, which should be good for an SE?

http://www.justmagnaflow.com/CatalyticConverters.htm

the cat that CmptrNerd has is a 2.5" inlet and outlet and will work perfect on your ssei. just take it to an exhaust shop and have it installed.

I ordered on Mon. It was only $160 free shipping.