1988 Mustang catalytic removal: Yes or no?
 

hey i wanted to remove the cats on my '88 mustang notch 5.0 for more sound. is it worth it? will i get in trouble/ get ticketed? sorry for the noob question lol. thanks.

It can give you alot more volume for sure but I don't know if you have emission testing in Ontario. If you do then your car will fail.

You will be fined if your caught. An 88 has to be e-tested every 2 years. Removing them will not change the sound much, that's what mufflers are for.

you really dont want to bet that.

I have ran both ways. exact same set up with O/R H pipe is ALWAYS louder.
here is a vid of my old stang with 1 5/8" bbk headers 2.5" O/R hpipe and flowmaster 40 series and 2.5" tails

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...623_191520.jpg

here is the same set up but with a high flow BBK catted H pipe


you will notice the off road h pipe is louder and has more rasp to it.

A 5.0 will definitely be quite a bit louder minus the converters. If they haven't been changed already, I'd suggest that you look at aftermarket cat-back exhaust to increase the sound level. Lots and lots of options out there ...


cheers
Ed N.

^^^ x 2. I'd either go this route or just go with high-flo performance cats.

In Ontario you will be ticketed / fined if you don't have your cats. AND, with emissions testing you will fail without em ... better to leave em on.

I have failed E-tests with my bbk high flow catted system. Keep it stock, dont punch it unless you dont care. You would be ahead buying some guys already punched h-pipe and keeping the stocker around for e-testing.

move here no e-tests

I agree with the above.Keep the stock h pipe for the e test.
Lots of options out there for aftermarket high flow catted mid pipes,and cat back exhaust systems.
Seeing that your in T.O,i'm suprised your even thinking of deleting the cats.Go to your MTO,and ask them how much of a fine you would get for not having your cats. :wink:

The fine is over $500 but that is X2. A fine for each side. In Hamilton they pull over mustangs to check for cats. Keep them on.

That sucks!!:bleh:

Its a fine for each cat? ouch.

I know what my choice would be! :?

Years ago I did my 79 , took the cat off, and punched the guts out of them , and put them back on,, at least if the shell is there, all the smog police can do is look under, and if they where to test,, you didnt know they where not working, Unless they get superman to look inside, your ok.. heard of one guy the cops where trying to get off the road, and used the emission thing.. he set up the carb to run pure methanol, had it tested, no cats and passed, then reset to run gas,, really pissed off the cops..lol

IF your engine is relatively stock, NO CATS is useless, you will have zero back pressure.

You WILL hate it.

um just to let you know it is VERY easy to see if cats are punched. ever here of a temp. reader. cats get reallly hot. so if the cats are the same temp as the regular pipe, guess what? obviously they have been punched and you are fined.

it is relatively inexpensive to buy a bogus etest

My neighbour took them off his Trans Am...It sounds freakin awesome. He's trying to talk me into it...He's a cop...weird...

I have some track data from my old 1989 Mustang LX. I had a totally stock longblock TB to pan, and had equal shorties, stock cats, and magnaflow cat back. Other mods were lightening up the car, alum DS, 3.73s, slicks, skinnies, suspension work, UD pulleys, 16* timing, K&N w/ home made ram air, by passbelt for ps and smog, everyone knows the stock 12s drill.....

Anyways, I was running 13.0-13.11 all day at 102.7 almost 103 MPH... everyone kept saying lose the stupid stock H and 12s were mine. I put an off road X on, NO other changes. TQ was def down, might have gain 5-10 Hp somewhere narrow up top, but car ran 13.2-13.3 all day and one 13.19 bouncing the car off he limiter to muster a 1.77 60 foot...

Moral of the story here, if stock longblock and cam, Ford did a decent ob actually on the stock mandrel bent 2 1/4" dual system, the muffs are restrictive, followed by the stock headers, and NO the design of them is good you just have to port out the welds INSIDE somewhat, buddy of mine did crack a 12.98 102 MPH on stock ported headers and similar setup as mine above with stock H.

Once you do heads and cam it's a different thing. But for 225-250 HP... all you gain is sound.