I’m finishing up on my exhaust having replaced everything (y-pipe, b-pipe and muffler) but the cat. Now I am putting the cat in but can’t remember which way it goes. There is an up/down, north south relationship but I can’t remember which is which. If I look into the throat of the cat, the honeycomb is about 3 inches in on one side and 6 inches in on the other. Which is the inlet side, honeycomb at 3 inches or 6 inches. The strange thing is it will fit either way if you flip it both top/bottom and north/south. Again, can someone clarify which is the inlet side (and bail me out of this mess!). Oh, it’s a ’98 I30T. Thanks.

 

All set, made an educated guess (SWAG'ed it) and installed it with the 3 inch margin to the front. Right or wrong the system doesn't leak and it hasn’t thrown any codes.

 

there was no heatshield left huh? if it was then you would know that it is on the bottom.
when i got my catco i installed it one way, drove it for a bit, and ended up reversing it after i noticed the built in heat sheild.

 

Nope, no heat shield nor any mouting points for a shield. There is an upper heat shield attached to the car but nothing on the cat itself. That would have been too easy!

 

i know what you mean. all 3 maximas in my family are missing the cat shield and the b pipe hanger is broken off. you think its this thing called winter? lol. god i hate salt.

 

JSutter, roger on hating the salt!! Some advice (from my experience), in my case, it appears both the b-pipe bracket and the bracket that attached to the flange where the y-pipe and cat meet rusted through This allowed the flex section of the y-pipe to overextend and it finally failed. So I might pay attention if both of those support locations fail as this could create even more issues, failure of the flex section. Winter in Maine sucks with all of the salt they spread, especially the liquid they have been using on 295!

 

sounds about right. i have noticed the flex getting stretched when the cat hanger goes bad. which i forgot all about, both mine and my dads are pretty rough but they are holding the front up ok. the flex in my 98 was getting iffy and my dads lost the rings on either end years ago. i just hope the mesh stays put. i dont feel like messing with it at its age. also i replaced the muffler on his a few years ago. mine is getting there and the flange all ready rotted off. i really need a quality cat back thats quiet. remind me to stay off 295! i all ready have a rust hole in the trunk where the sunroof and antenna drains are.