pre-cat gutting

[xavioz]

i've been considering this opperation. has anybody here done it? would love a hand and some insight from someone with experience.

[Tommyboy]

Dude, save some pennies, dont go out to eat for a good few weeks and stay away from coffee shops, and get a highflow cat! They sound much much better! I am still waiting to get mine installed which reminds me i need to get all my goodies installed by Chris soon, but i would save up and buy the real deal!

[MattyD879]

Heres a step-by-step process : http://ironchefbadass.com/%7Emysites/cougar/howto/precats/

jrak raises a good point hah, this is the"cheap" way to go but full headers and a main cat would be the ideal way to go

[jrak123]

Dude, save some pennies, dont go out to eat for a good few weeks and stay away from coffee shops, and get a highflow cat! They sound much much better! I am still waiting to get mine installed which reminds me i need to get all my goodies installed by Chris soon, but i would save up and buy the real deal!
you mean Ford is making high flow cats in the manifolds?


He did say PRE cat not main cat. He would have to starve hims self for a few weeks to afford a set of MSDS headers if he wanted the full kit. So be careful about what and how you post and waste peoples time reading your misinformation.

[MaverickFlyer]

I gutted my Precats mostly because they were clogged. It's a pretty simple and Cheap mod. ;)

[xavioz]

i do agree with the high flow cat idea, but as Jrak said, i did say pre-cats. it does indeed look fairly simple. my one question on it is whether the o2 fooler is required on all years, or if its for specific years, or if you straight up have to do it. other than that, it looks like a smashin' good time!

[MaverickFlyer]

I think you only need the mil elims on the 99-00. Correct me if I'm wrong someone. I still have mine in my ash tray for a year. Never put them on.

[Tommyboy]

i do agree with the high flow cat idea, but as Jrak said, i did say pre-cats. it does indeed look fairly simple. my one question on it is whether the o2 fooler is required on all years, or if its for specific years, or if you straight up have to do it. other than that, it looks like a smashin' good time!

Yes you are correct, I totally misread that! My bad!

[xavioz]

Yes you are correct, I totally misread that! My bad!

no worries. so the MIL elims are required for 99-00? anybody have confirmation on this? mine is a 99, so i would really like NOT to have to make them. i spose there is always trial and error.

[MaverickFlyer]

99's need them for sure. I have a 99.

[wanderingmind]

So, I take it you've put the kibosh on the headers? Too expensive?

[xavioz]

i still would like to get headers. this is more of a temporary solution in my book. i'd like to get some used ones if possible so i don't have to fork out the 660. i like my cougar, but i don't wanna drop too much money on her.

[wanderingmind]

What mods do you have so far?

It's a good idea to work up to headers. Intake and exhaust first. Then headers.

[xavioz]

sorry for the late reply, i have an injen shortram, and my GMK extension is in the mail as i type this. i also have cat-back exhaust with flowmaster muffler. thoughts?

[wanderingmind]

That's a good start. Are you going to stop with I/H/E? Or, are you going to go into the realm of FI? Maybe a 3L swap?

If you're not going to do any more performance stuff, are you looking into car audio? Exterior mods?

[xavioz]

for audio i do have a few things already. i have a sony deck running power acoustik tweaters, infinity reference speakers running off a pioneer GM-6200F, and a kicker L5 running of an Audiobahn A8000t. I'm happy with how it turned out.
as far as the performance mods, i'm uncertain as to whether i wish to stop with I/H/E or maybe go FI. If my engine were to blow, which i hope it doesn't at this time, I would consider a 3L swap, but my engine only has 80,000. I really would like the cougar to be faster, but I don't know how much cash I wish to put down on it.
For exterior mods, I have the taillight covers. I would much rather put money into go than show.

[wanderingmind]

I would much rather put money into go than show.

Good man.

[xavioz]

well an interesting twist happened this weekend. I was greeted with the good 'ol P0420 CEL code. my local shop did confirm pre-cat clogging. At this point, its either clear 'em up, or get some headers. I really see no point in replacing it. I'm really leaning towards getting the MSDS, especially since they're on sale February. Will i need two MIL eliminators to go with them?

[wanderingmind]

well an interesting twist happened this weekend. I was greeted with the good 'ol P0420 CEL code. my local shop did confirm pre-cat clogging. At this point, its either clear 'em up, or get some headers. I really see no point in replacing it. I'm really leaning towards getting the MSDS, especially since they're on sale February. Will i need two MIL eliminators to go with them?

Yes, two. I am pretty sure the headers come with the MIL elim's.

[xavioz]

Well, I decided to go with the headers while they are on sale. I placed my order today. I'm thinking about attempting the install myself. If I decide its out of my league, do you guys have any recomendations for a shop or somebody you know locally?

[wanderingmind]

Well, I decided to go with the headers while they are on sale. I placed my order today. I'm thinking about attempting the install myself. If I decide its out of my league, do you guys have any recomendations for a shop or somebody you know locally?

How mechanically inclined are you?

Personally, I would rather pay someone to do that job. It is supposed to be a major PITA. When I was looking into headers, I asked Blackcoog how much he would charge to do that and he pretty much said that he wasn't even willing to do it - that should say a lot seeing as how he can swap a 3L over a weekend.

[xavioz]

well if blackcoog doesn't want to do it, that definately makes me wonder if i want to. I think i'll stop by some of the local places and see what they'd charge. I got the full package which comes with gaskets MILs and such so they'd have all the pieces.

[wanderingmind]

Expect it to be kind of pricey. It's a lot of labor.

Blackcoog might be willing to do it for the right price. I don't know though.

I am not trying to tell you not to install it yourself, but you should expect it to be a serious PITA. The other thing you could do is go over to CEG and see if a local contour owner would either help (for $$) or install them for more ($$$.)