New Cat Time

Shiny and fresh.

Shiny and fresh.

Poor Sharka was going to riot if I did one more post about the Stormtrooper. I know I heard muttering and planning between Sharka and Bucky the past few nights. And when I walked into the garage this afternoon I was greeted with: “I’ll burn that white thing down, see! Now JACK ME UP!”

So Sharka gets a new cat and a quick blog post.

Old vs New.

Old vs New.

I should have done this long ago. The old one was… really old. I have no idea when I changed it. It might be from the 97. I don’t even know the brand. I believe it was Jackson Racing, though I’m not sure.

It barely functioned as a cat anymore. The exhaust was really really smelly. It had also developed a leak which was pretty loud in the cabin. Time for a new one.

The replacement cat is from Goodwin. It’s…. this one. A RoadsterSport 2.5″ federal catalytic converter.

The business end.

The business end.

The old one was just “a cat.” Nothing special. I wanted something to do the job of a catalytic converter. I didn’t put much effort into selection, I’m ashamed to say.

I actually shopped for the new one. I wanted a 2.5″ unit to match Sharka’s FM piping. (I know I could make more power with a full 3″ exhaust, but I like installing the factory cat for a week every two years.) And I wanted a stock-flange cat. And… that was it.

The RoadsterSport fits the bill. It measures 2.5″ with a caliper and bolts onto a stock exhaust system. It even came with oversized gaskets.

I also measured the old cat and was surprised to find it was 2.125″ with a caliper. That’s a bit on the small side. I thought it was 2.25″.

Poor Sharka. So unloved.

Empty...

Empty…

Full!

Full!

Installation was nothing to speak of. The old cat and new ones both go in and out easily. They’re a bit shorter than the factory one, so I don’t have to unbolt the muffler and massage the pipes into place. 4 bolts off and 4 bolts on. Super simple.

After installing the new cat, I fired up the engine and let things heat up for a couple minutes. Then I tightened the bolts down. And let me tell ya, it’s really really nice not having that exhaust leak right under the seat. So much quieter.

And I’m very happy to report that power is up! It was a very happy test drive after the install. 4th gear seemed to go by much faster than before.

I’ve got some wonderful car detailing goodies from AMMO NYC just waiting for the weather to get more consistently warmer. There will be a couple blog posts about that. Maybe Sharka can stop threatening Stormy after that happens.

Please stop threatening the new kid, Sharka.

« | »
  • Brad says:

    I clicked on this post expecting something… meow exciting. A simple exhaust swap? That’s just purrfect.

    Alright, I’m done meow. I’ll see myself out, thanks. =P

  • Cosmin M says:

    That is a nice looking cat! I wonder why it looks different on the goodwin website though.

  • Leave a Reply to Brad