I've been looking off and on for high-flow precats and a y pipe but cannot find anything for my 02. I have 111k on the clock and for the last 40k miles it has been pretty sluggish. No CEL's. My searches say cats...

I don't want a raspy rice racer so...I'm after high-flow cats and perhaps a B-pipe. Looking for bolt-on parts that I can do over a weekend in my garage. I do a lot of highway driving so stock-like quietness is appreciated.

I see parts for 00-01 and then 03-04, but nothing for 02-03. Can I use parts from either year? Does someone know of a place in MN that can help me out?

Right now I am 50/50 thinking of getting rid of the max. It has been a trooper and I'd like to keep it but I get frustrated with the lack of finding performance-type exhaust components.

The axle-back of my exhaust is also junk, so, ultimately, stock manifolds back needs to be replaced.

Help?

 

carstuff.com or autopartswarehouse.com for all your OEM parts new at a reasonable price or try ebay...and you want performance parts Cattman Headers, on this site have to call him, or OBX headers on ebay, Y-pipe Cattman also got those or Warpspeed Performance also, Exhaust Ebay N1 Style or others, Cattman, Megan, or Custom so there is plenty of parts for performance or just replacement...Good Luck......

 

I can't find any high-flow OEM-type for the 02. It seems the parts go 00-01 then 03-04 and skip 02-03.

I've been to the cattman website. Find me something other than the axle over that is for an 02, they list the parts for every other year but 02-03.

I don't want to do headers. I want a higher-flow cat and maybe replace the rest of the exhaust. The flex joint is starting to tear and my rear section is bent from some ***** that rear ended me in rush hour

 

As far as high-flow, I honestly don't think anyone makes high-flow precats for our cars.

Your best bet would be to gut the precats, get yourself an O2 simulator, and leave your stock catback on.

I had headers and a testpipe on my car (as in no cats at all), and the stock catback, and the car was still quiet as could be going down the road.

 

Gutting the cats is my last resort.

Any tips on gutting them? The cat back is bent up from the accident, it rattles off of the car as I drive...will drive you insane.

 

Uhm, well, as far as gutting them, it's maybe an hour to an hour and a half job.

The whole job really isn't that bad. Drop the y-pipe, drop the front heat shield, unbolt the front precat, gut it. The rear one, I just gutted from underneath the car (I did have access to a two-post lift, which made my life a lot easier).

The rear took longer because the ceramic had actually heated up to the point of melting into this hard, metal composite that took forever to break apart. The front, once it was unbolted, was literally done in 2 minutes, tops.

As far as the axleback, if you want to keep things quiet, why not leave the stock b-pipe in place, cut your old muffler off and pick up a nice Magnaflow or one of the Napa ROEMs? The b-pipes on our cars are what cut out 99% of the exhaust noise.

 

1.Walker makes stock design Y-pipe for 2002 .... 160$ from rockauto.com....Don't dream they will be very perfect fit...may need some fine tunings and weldings(but very minor,if needed)
2.Magnaflow makes both precats .... expensive , 250$ for the rear , 320$ for the front
3.E-bay test pipe ... for ~30$
that's what I did...With 2 new front Denso O2 sensors....

Don't gut the cats ..... Think about tommorow enviroment....

 

If you leave the main cat in place, the exhaust will still be squeaky clean. The only reason we have precats is for the first 90 seconds of engine operation where the exhaust isn't hot enough for the main cat to properly clean the exhaust.

 

You didn't buy this car thinking about the environment did you? A Sentra would've been a better choice. I'm just sayin'...

 

Better tell all the F1, GT2 and GT1 cars that they're killing our planet.

While you're at it, you might want to come here to Nashville and set up a picket outside of Dupont's plant. I'm tired of all the fish in the lake near my house growing legs and wandering into my back yard.

 

Are the precats bolt on?

 

Sure are.

The front one is held to the upper exhaust manifold by 7(?) bolts, and the rear by, I believe, four. Or three.

 

I'm talking about the magnaflow units...the images look like they do. I just don't want to order them and then they require cutting/welding

 

The magnaflow cats are on ebay at a pretty favorable price. Thanks for pointing out the magnaflow cats.

What is it that stands in the way of a catman y pipe fitting on the 02-03's?

 

Nothing, if you get the one for the 02-03. I don't believe he normally stocks them, however. You have to call him. Don't go by the web site-call him. If you do, let us know about the y-pipe status.

 

Seriously? This whole time I could've gotten one and its a direct bolt in?

Damn...

Is there another y pipe manufacturer to look into?

 

Call RacingLine since they make High Flow Precats for the 6th Gens.....

 

Call them and see if they'll do the same for the 5-5.5th Gens

 

I already ordered the magnaflows from ebay. It was like $454....

 

I've had my Cattman y-pipe on my 2003 Maxima for three years now. It was a reasonable mod as a compromise between headers and the OEM configuration. Somewhere around 8-10hp gains, according to Brian Catts. Plus, the uneven length creates a decidedly non-raspy rumble.

And it was a direct, no-fuss bolt-on. Had to extend the wire for one of the O2 sensors, though.

 

Did you just use an extension cable for that then?

 

Has anyone heard of or had experience with Catco products? They're billed as "direct replacement" parts and are 100% Stainless. From the pictures they "LOOK" as though some effort was made at a "less restrictive" pre-cat/A-pipe than OEM.

CATCO;



OEM;

 

IDK what kind of cable... same gauge wire is all, with a soldered connection. No crimp connectors.

 

I have the Cattman y-pipe as well, and all you need to do to install the O2 sensor is to undo some of the clips that hold the wiring in place. The wire itself is plenty long, but it's simply held in place by little plastic clips.

There is one thing you need to take care of in order to fit the y-pipe, you need to shorten one of the studs on the rear pre-cat to allow it to slip into place.

 

What do they look like and are they Hiflow units with Metallic substrates?

 

 

Just ordered them yesterday.


I also have an email into Cattman on the availability of the Y pipe.

 

Sorry, I don't know what happened I can see them! Are they visible in the original message now?

 

Can't wait to see how everything turns out with the magnaflows.

 

I wonder what he's asking, or if he's still making it?

Really? How come?

 

From reading on here, the folks weren't happy with the Eastern and Catco's fitments when it came to gaskets.

 

I vote for gutting. Cats are worthless. Plus, it won't cost you money.

I still can't get over the horrible stock header design. Looks like ford made it lol.

 

Opt for OBX headers and save yourself the frustration. Them with a hi-flow main cat and the stock exhaust should make you a very happy man. Gains would certainly be found and if the header install isn't too horrific will create less issues. Someone mentioned having to lengthen the wiring for one of the O2 sensors but that's it.. Now you just have to find yourself some of that nonexistent Technosquare software and your vq will purr so nicely that z33 owners will make a mess in their pants.

 

OBX for reference:



good noob?

 

You've never installed the OBX headers...have you?



Extending the O2 sensors (Yes, both of them. Or all four if you want your secondaries plugged in, too) is the least of your concerns when it comes to installing them.

 

Nothing compared to a Cutlass I used to have. The exhaust from the driver's side come down, curved behind the oil pan, then upwards towards the front of the engine on the passenger side where it joined that pipe and needed to make a very tight turn (about 135 degree) to then follow the exhaust flow from the passenger side. Stupidest thing I'd ever seen. Converting to true dual exhaust dropped the 0-60 time in that car from 9.2 seconds to 7.8. Probably picked up 40-50 hp the original design was so bad. Never had a car where just an exhaust system made such a huge difference.

Excuse my crappy artwork...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...d=300412705353

This would work on an 02-03?

I got the cats today. I'll post pics when I get that far. They look pretty decent. At least they should, they where not cheap...

 

I don't think that will work with a 5.5 gen. Cattman makes a y-pipe for our cars, gains aren't as much as the 4/5 gen cars because our y-pipe apparently isn't as restrictive.

 

I called Cattman on Thurs. He no longer makes the Ypipe for the 5.5. But, he WILL do a production run for a minimum 8 unit order. I'd be in for one as the mesh on my pipe is starting to let go. Maybe I should start a group buy thread.

 

Right now it looks like I would be in. What's the lead time, and how much down do I need to commit to?