Catalytic Converter...run it or not?

No emissions here in Arkansas. Should I run a Cat or not? What's the benefit?

Ditch it!

Sweet sexy jesus I love your vert BigDaddy6! Anywhere I can catch more pics?

wodbutcher - don't need it, don't run it.

Just pulled the trigger on a pacesetter header because I hate the stock manifold/cat mess that's in there...plus there's an exhaust leak and I don't wanna keep foolin' with it. I had gutted both cats (both were plugged) after the engine rebuild but the exhaust smells HORRIBLE and the exhaust pipe is really sooty...thick black soot...so I was wondering if a cat would knock that stank down a bit and kill the soot. I guess if the leak is fixed I wont catch the exhaust smell. Not putting a cat on saves me $$$ for other things so if you guys say ditch it, it's ditched.

I'd say in my opinion if you don't have to smog it, then get rid of it.

I'll dig up some more pics...

To replace both cats could cost at least $500 or more. I say ditch it, if you don't need it for emissions testing. There are so few mid-1990 and older vehicles on the road these days, they don't contibute anything pollutant-wise in the grand scheme. Remember, boats, tractors, lawn mowers, gas trimmers, etc are not regulated at all; any many of those could be even dirtier 2-strokes !!!

That's a good point...boats dont have anything on them...I'll ditch it. Thanks, Cus and everyone else who voiced their opinion.

Just waitin' on the header now.

Not to mention over seas they still use DDT to kill insects, still use R12 off the shelf, most cars don't have to adhere the strict EPA laws we deal with here.

The factory Mazda exh is shit, pure and simple. I really hated the little cast iron 90 deg elbow under the first cat, very bad for exh flow.

YES!!!! That elbow sucks...as does the whole system. I put a Weber on my B and capped off the tubes on the intake and the elbow on the exhaust. It looks like crap and it leaks. I cant wait to tear all that stock junk off and put the Pace Setter on it.

Just a follow up...put the pace setter on and had the muffler shop put all new pipe on it. 2" all the way back. It's so clean and no leaks. The paint came right off the header the first time I drove it. Sorta looks tacky but I can deal with that later. Noticed today, sitting in traffic, someone was blowing a little black smoke out of their vehicle...then noticed it was ME! Figured out the elec choke wire wasn't making contact on the alternator...rewired it and reset the mixture. Black smoke gone and engine runs a lot smoother. those rubber vacuum line caps are trash. I just put them on a few months ago and they were all cracked and leaking. Took some mower gas line and kinked it over then zipped a zip-tie on it...tried to suck air through it and NADA...so I've found a good replacement to those caps. I guess I could have just ran a hose from one vac port to another on the intake. Wouldn't that work?