Replacing my '95 ATX Y-Pipe or hollowing out catalytic converters?

[triphx]

Hi everyone - what a great resource for our "old" rides. I had a few SHO's '90, 93 and my 'rents had a whole bunch through the '90's... I love these cars.
I just got my hands on my late grandfather's red '95 with only 70k and that has become my daily driver. I have a few projects (replacing rear strut mounts, etc.) to keep me busy, but the noise from my leaky cats is driving me nuts right now!
I crawled under yesterday and confirmed the both cats are leaking and am on the fence about whether to replace the Y-Pipe ($350 online) or bypass and put a single cat before the flex pipe/resonator. The rest of the exhaust is pretty solid, so I was thinking about a low-cost fix for the next year or so. The car just passed inspection last week, so I've got 2 years w/out anyone looking under it.
I'd rather save the $ now so I can put $300 into the rear struts and stop the incessant clunking.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Oh - do I win a prize for having the lowest-mileage '95 SHO in the world?

 

[ViPER1313]

Just buy a used Y-pipe from someone here on the forum - it will probably be cheaper than having an exhaust shop do the patch work. Also, I don't think there is nearly enough room downstream to put a single cat in place (it would probably melt the shift cables too....)

 

[TYSHO]

What kind of leaking and noises are you speaking of?

A muffler/exhaust shop can seal the y-pipe with a couple spot welds. This will be the cheapest option, while retaining the function of the y-pipe. You might need to pull the y-pipe to hit it with the welder, depending where the leak is located.

 

[TYSHO]

Just buy a used Y-pipe from someone here on the forum - it will probably be cheaper than having an exhaust shop do the patch work.

I don't think so, we're talking about an Arizona vehicle. I'm from Texas, and it cost $5 to fix a leaking hole in my exhaust pipe. I've even had a seperate occasion where my resonator weld broke away from the rear exhaust system completely, costing $15 to weld back together. It then cost $10 to cut out a crimped pipe from the rear exhaust [caught up on the road when it fail] and replace it with a six inch long pipe from their scrap pile.

Texas and Arizona are right by the borders of Mexico, where these guys run the exhaust shops and have great prices.

 

[whiteguy3]

Don't hollow out the stock y-pipe. Just install straight pipes in place of the converters. No point in wasting your time hollowing them out.

 

[SHOstopper1992]

Y-pipe...

 

[triphx]

Cats

Thanks for the feedback; I was wondering if removing the cats would screw with my ECU, etc.
Patching the holes may not be feasible, it is actually both cats that are damaged. I can feel the air pressure on my hand through the holes on the bottom of the guard around the catalytic converter. They both seem totally shot and probably clogged. I am also contemplating bypassing 'em and re-welding the covers back on place to look like the cats are in place. My neighbor has a MIG and has no problem screwing around with stuff like this.
I've gotta sell my '78 LandCruiser project before I can dump any more money in the SHO; just put $1200 into a new A/C and still need to do the rear struts

 

[TYSHO]

I had my cats removed and replaced with straight pipes for $40 out the door.

 

[triphx]

Cats

I had my cats removed and replaced with straight pipes for $40 out the door.

Did you notice any performance increase/decrease? I read that the exhaust sounds a bit more like a tin can. ANYTHING is better than what I have right now; it's bad enough driving a 15 year-old car as a daily driver - but it's much worse when it sounds bad.
The good part is that the paint is beautiful and for 70k miles it looks almost brand-new. In 5 years it will be a "classic" and still have less than 100k

 

[wjayg]

95 sho

Oh - do I win a prize for having the lowest-mileage '95 SHO in the world?

Maybe the lowest mileage but probably not the cleanest!









Everyone here has already agreed that my 93 SHO w/ 83K miles is the cleanest most pristine SHO in existence!

 

[triphx]

Maybe the lowest mileage but probably not the cleanest!









Everyone here has already agreed that my 93 SHO w/ 83K miles is the cleanest most pristine SHO in existence!

DAMN, that's pretty!
Yes, she's cleaner than mine - white is so much better to keep perfect than red!

 

[triphx]

Did you get your headlights redone? The local dealer offers it for $39 per light. Mine are pretty foggy, the only part of my car that looks "old"

 

[shoon]

I removed my cats and put in straight pipe.

sounded like ass!

Unless you wanna buy better mufflers or resonators straight piping is not the greatest. my stock y-pipe was butchered to accommodate resonators to replace the cats to try and tone the sound down a bit.

I will eventually buy an aftermarket mandrel bent Y-Pipe... just not right now.

my $0.02

 

[whiteguy3]

Did you notice any performance increase/decrease?

I did. I noticed no loss in torque, but did notice top end increased through the butt dyno.

I removed my cats and put in straight pipe.

sounded like ass!

Disagree. I love my car without cats. Straight pipes sound a whole lot better on my car than hollowed cats did.

I was wondering if removing the cats would screw with my ECU

Negative. We do not have downstream O2 sensor's. That is when you would run into problems.

 

[wjayg]

Did you get your headlights redone? The local dealer offers it for $39 per light. Mine are pretty foggy, the only part of my car that looks "old"

Headlights are original and never been redone

McGuire makes a polishing kit that works ok but just today I saw a $22 kit that uses (3) steps and the customer said it was the best, did not get name of kit but it used wet sand paper and a polymer fill

And here is (1) more of the LAST low mileage cleanest SHO that is left on the entire planet!

 

[triphx]

The rear sits up nicely; are those new struts?

 

[SeanMc]

Maybe the lowest mileage but probably not the cleanest!









Everyone here has already agreed that my 93 SHO w/ 83K miles is the cleanest most pristine SHO in existence!

I'm seriously hating on you

 

[whiteguy3]

So...When does the modding begin on it?

 

[wjayg]

The rear sits up nicely; are those new struts?

Yes I put all new struts after I bought spring of 2010, also changed the oil, fuel filter and rear brake pads and hood struts and parked her for my old age. I paid 3K plus about another $700. I will drive the 90 SHO MTX for the next 10-15 years then hop into the 93 ATX for the next 10-15 years. She is a garage queen for now. Original owner has done the radiator, timing belt, several tranny services, ect and drove it 14K miles from 1997 to 2010. I feel very fortunate

 

[triphx]

Awesome; my grandfather bought my 95 new and only drove around a small town in CT for 14 years. I picked it up and drove cross-country and now she's in AZ as my daily driver. The A/C died crossing Utah at 109º, so that was a hot 300 miles to Vegas and then Phoenix! Cats, struts and she should be like brand new. If I get another 2 years I'll be thrilled, planning to use it as the "drive to San Diego / Vegas" car so we don't put miles on the leased cars.