Swerv

I'm looking at Magnaflow cats on procivic.com - http://www.procivic.com/pages-....html - the 96-98 says direct fit and the 99-00 says semi-direct fit...

I've heard the 96-98 have more catalyst material than the later models...? I need to complete my system with one of these cats. I will have a 4-2-1 header, cat and custom catback. I would like to have a cat that I can just unbolt and replace if it fails, especially under warranty. My mechanic will piece the system together and make a flange on the catback pipe so I can remove if needed.

If anyone has experience with either of these cats, please give me some feedback. Will one perform better than the other? They're priced a little differently. I just want something reliable and bolt-on. Thanks for reading!

ejprimo

i would pick up the universal magnaflow 94106 (2.5in dia) and have the O2 bung hole welded on after the cat. then have the flanges welded on, etc.. this is what i did on my gf's 97 prelude, no more cel and it passed smog. this is the least expensive route to go.

you can get a magnaflow 94106 from amazon.com for $61.82 with free shipping and no tax.

http://www.amazon.com/Magnaflo...r=1-1

Swerv

That's not a bad idea. Were you getting a CEL with the bolt-on magnaflow? I have a feeling it may last longer on my Y7 setup with no vtec...maybe not.

My tech said he's had a lot of problems with magnaflow cats giving CELs and stopped buying them. It seems to be a mixed bag of opinions of the carsound cats on this site. I don't really care what brand, but I may just try the carsound/magna bolt-on. If it breaks apart, I'll just hollow it out- heard of good results with that from B18C5-EH2. Maybe some day there will be a true bolt-on performance cat that isn't hit or miss, as the Magnaflow seems to be.

alacard

I have the universal magnaflow with an o2 bung. Has worked fine for a few years now. But definitely can't pass smog with it in my 99 civic (in california, though). I'm not sure why it says 96-98 is bolt on but 99-00 is semi-bolt on...That is weird. Is your car an ex? and what year?

Swerv

No, I have a 99 LX. No vtec and a manifold cat that's a pain to mod. I am going to have to take apart the wire harnes where the o2 sensors run and relocate both sensors under the car where they should be. Manifold cats suck- they break and don't flow worth a damn. My tech said any header/cat combo I put on will flow better than a manifold cat.

I think I'll just buy the direct fit model since it should have flanges and a bung factory installed. I'm going for a mid-range setup so I don't need a big 2.5" cat and piping. I already have a 2" catback bolted to the manifold cat, which has a tiny 1.5"outlet. It will be cut down to fit the new system- which will step down from the 2.25" cat to 2" helping low end torque. This engine is built for economy and driveability, not high end horsepower. I want to make my car fun to drive and get 40mpg. I know it is possible.

leoaa777

None, Unless you are required by your state laws.

ejprimo

i was getting a cel with the rattling oem prelude cat two months after i replaced the head gasket. i got a 94004 (2in. dia.) magnaflow to match the 2in. collecter and exhaust piping. the car is bone stock. total out the door and installed was $110. after the install, i reset the cel and drove for approx. 100-200 miles. then i went to the test only center and it passed with flying colors. its been four months now and i dont expect that cel to come back.

on my untuned chiped p28 civic that i use mainly for track days i have a 94106 magnaflow installed. i havent had any rattling issues or breakage in 20k miles and 5+ track days even though my exhaust smell very rich.

running a hollowed out cat isnt a good idea and you dont gain any hp b/c you would go from a 2in collector to a 6in dia. hollow cat to a 2in exhaust piping. i doubt that B18C5-EH2 would ever suggest running a hollow cat.

it i were you id go for the universal magnaflow 94102 to match your 2in header collector and exhaust piping. the rest of your $$ can be spent elsewhere.

alacard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by leoaa777 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">None, Unless you are required by your state laws.


</TD></TR></TABLE>
YEAH!! F*ck up this planet even more

teamrpm2

so then how is it that u get your car smogged im interested?? for alacard

Swerv

I ran a hollowed out HFC on my old subaru with a full exhaust and it was great. The catalyst broke up and started rattling, but the pipe was well built so I just took the honeycomb out. A true high flow design is more canister shaped than oval, so it's more like 2.25-3.5-2.25. It performed well and sounded amazing- no CEL issues. I had middle age guys say 'man your car sounds sweet'. It really did.

I don't know if B18C5-EH2 recommended this, but I'm pretty sure he said he hollowed out his carsound cat with good results. There's a long thread about how long these cats last for people. Even if I didn't have to pass emissions, which I do, I would still run some sort of cat. The benefits of running catless aren't worth the pollution or smell. I ran the hollow cat becuause it was my only option at the time, AKA free. A catless 00 Si was dyno'd to have +1hp/ft-lb over a good high flow cat.

cehcivic15

i would just forget the cat and use a test-pipe, but that is me