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#1
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Test pipe for 78 Trans Am
Anyone still make them? The cat on my 78 is clogged and turning into a meteorite, and since I dont live in an emission state, a test pipe would be perfect.
I can make my own, but I see Gardener and Waldron offer them if you buy their systems. Since I already have a system, I'd just like the pipe, but cant find anyone selling it individually. Anyone know where to locate one, or want to sell me one? Worst case I can make my own, but figured I try this route first.
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"Those poor souls have made the fatal mistake of surrounding us. Now we can fire in any direction" 1970 Trans Am RAIII 4 speed 1971 Trans Am 5.3 LM7 1977 Trans Am W72 Y82 1987 Grand National |
#2
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
#3
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You can make your own, if you can weld exhaust pipe, but anyone selling one could be liable for a rather hefty fine. Right now the EPA has cracked down hard on the Diesel Brothers, and some other guys that have You Tube channels for modifying their emissions systems. I think the Diesel Brothers were fined $850,000.
I had a friend that owned a Midas franchise, and used to make them up, but the threat of the EPA busting anyone making test pipes scared him away from continuing to make them. This was in the 80s, not recently. This was the time the test tubes went away, and disappeared. The other avenue is to change the early 2 hole flange on pre 74 headpipes to a 3 hole flange so they can be bolted to the later manifolds, then retrofit an early dual system to the later chassis. The old convertor can be gutted, and empty the pellets out too. You have to be able to weld the plug back in though. I've probably known of these ways around the catalyst since the 70s, I would never do them though..... |
#4
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Quote:
I can make one, but figured I'd see if anyone had one first. I've gutted plenty of modern cats, but never a pellet style. How bad are they to gut?
__________________
"Those poor souls have made the fatal mistake of surrounding us. Now we can fire in any direction" 1970 Trans Am RAIII 4 speed 1971 Trans Am 5.3 LM7 1977 Trans Am W72 Y82 1987 Grand National |
#5
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I've heard that, once you remove the plug, the pellets can be taken out, then there is a baffle under the plug that can be reached with a air chisel, or cutting torch to punch a hole through it to allow better flow. That baffle is used to redirect exhaust flow. Then you need to straighten the plug out, and weld it back in to the body. It looks legal, but nothing in there to obstruct flow.
I've heard this, never have done it, of course, because of the legal ramifications.... |
#6
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Quote:
Ahh but of course, we're simply discussing semantics. I'll investigate it tomorrow and see what I come up with.
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"Those poor souls have made the fatal mistake of surrounding us. Now we can fire in any direction" 1970 Trans Am RAIII 4 speed 1971 Trans Am 5.3 LM7 1977 Trans Am W72 Y82 1987 Grand National |
#7
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Pull it sell it for scrap, buy some beer install your own pipe.
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466 Mike Voycey shortblock, 310cfm SD KRE heads, SD "OF 2.0 cam", torker 2 373 gears 3200 Continental Convertor best et 10.679/127.5/1.533 60ft 308 gears best et 10.76/125.64/1.5471 |
#8
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Bam.
( for testing only, or off road use, not for use in the state of California, these parts have been known to cause cancer to Dem’s )
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🧩 Burds Parts, Finding those Hard to Find PCs, no Fisher Price Toys Here Just Say No To 8” Flakes F ire B irds 🇮🇱 Last edited by burd; 02-03-2023 at 01:07 PM. |
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#9
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I think I got mine from JC Whitney!
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Skip Fix 1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever! 1981 Black SE Trans Am stockish 6X 400ci, turbo 301 on a stand 1965 GTO 4 barrel 3 speed project 2004 GTO Pulse Red stock motor computer tune 13.43@103.4 1964 Impala SS 409/470ci 600 HP stroker project 1979 Camaro IAII Edelbrock head 500" 695 HP 10.33@132 3595lbs |
#10
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#11
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Test pipe ... lol. I rember those from the early catalytic convertor days. Scouts Honor, I'm only gonna' run it long enough to see if the convertor is clogged. Honest. I think they eventually changed the name to "off-road pipe for competition use only".
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Triple Black 1971 GTO |
#12
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I recall sometime in the past year that a forum member posted here that his exhaust was so stinky he ws putting on some universal cats.
Seems to me that he would have to modify his tune so that the cats would not overheat. Can't remember who it was but maybe he would swap his stinky exhaust system for your system with the cat
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"No replacement for displacement!" GTOAA--https://www.gtoaa.org/ |
#13
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The whole point of GM's pellet-style catalysts was that defective/worn-out catalyst pellets could be replaced with fresh ones using a vacuum system the Stealership would have as a "special tool".
Should be able to open the Cat, and dump the pellets out. Assuming, of course, that the threaded plugs haven't seized in the decades since they were new; and the mesh inside the cat was still intact. When vehicles with pellet-style cats came into the shop, we'd smack the muffler with our fist. A large proportion of them rattled like Maracas 'cause they had a heap of catalyst pellets in them. Wasn't unusual to see cars idling at stop lights, spitting pellets out of the tailpipe. When the mesh of the catalyst tore or rusted-through, the beads would migrate downstream. |
#14
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Those were the worst exhaust systems, put some HO’s on and a dual exhaust.
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🧩 Burds Parts, Finding those Hard to Find PCs, no Fisher Price Toys Here Just Say No To 8” Flakes F ire B irds 🇮🇱 |
#15
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I've had a lot of tire kickers on mine so i finally gave into ebay. it's listed if you want to bid.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255962738143
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1979 Firebird Trans Am 301/4spd (Now 428) 1977 Firebird Formula 400/Auto 2007 Grand Prix GXP 5.3L |
#16
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I don’t see the listing 🤔
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🧩 Burds Parts, Finding those Hard to Find PCs, no Fisher Price Toys Here Just Say No To 8” Flakes F ire B irds 🇮🇱 |
#17
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Quote:
__________________
"Those poor souls have made the fatal mistake of surrounding us. Now we can fire in any direction" 1970 Trans Am RAIII 4 speed 1971 Trans Am 5.3 LM7 1977 Trans Am W72 Y82 1987 Grand National |
#18
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The auction got pulled and guess why.
Used catalytic converters are not legal for resale.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
The Following User Says Thank You to b-man For This Useful Post: | ||
#19
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Neither are "Test pipes".
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#20
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The test pipe I have identifies as a Cat.
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🧩 Burds Parts, Finding those Hard to Find PCs, no Fisher Price Toys Here Just Say No To 8” Flakes F ire B irds 🇮🇱 Last edited by burd; 02-05-2023 at 11:06 AM. |
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