Hi guys I need new cat converters on my 1993 sc300. The dealerships wants around 2k for both of them so I am looking aftermarket. Does anyone know where I can find a good deal and ones that are reliable that wont go bad with in a year? thanks guys

 

Magnaflow is the company I know that makes California legal catalytic converters.

Part number for the fronts are: 37105 http://www.magnaflow.com/02catalytic...niversal=37105

Part number for the rear is: 38105
http://www.magnaflow.com/02catalytic...niversal=38105

Hope that helps... they're still pricey but at least not 2k.

 

wow these dealership prices never cease to amaze me

 

Ya I was looking at those magnaflows I was just kinda nervous on ordering them until I found someone who has had them installed and they pass california smog too

 

I don't have them on my SC but I've used them on my saleen and had no issues passing smog. I had to replace 4 of them I have two setups now... when I need to pass smog I switch it out

 

They are a pain to weld in, a local shop welded 2 universals in for me and it was tricky ha. That front coffee can stock catalytic converter with the Y pipe on one side was nuts.

 

I just replaced the cat on an old Jeep last fall and it seems to me that I heard something about all aftermarket Cali legal cats currently being of better build quality because they're required to warranty them for longer now. It used to be you could pick up a super cheap cat and it would pass smog this year, but then be shot before then next smog check (in 2 years). Supposedly, that is no longer the case. If you notice, the price of all the Cali legal cats is way higher than 49 state cats, that's because of the newer quality/warranty requirements.

 

California requires that the cats have the Executive orders numbers visable on them in order to pass the visual on emissions. I had to go through the referee station last month when I brought my offroad toyota in that I performed a 4.3 chevy swap. The best place I found was discount converters dot com. I called and they found what worked for me and the cost was pretty inexpensive as far as cats go. Of course I have the welding equipment to weld it all in.

 

I feel sorry for you cali guys, your smog and emision requirements seem to be a real pain in the back.

 

Well i ordered the cats from magnaflow last friday so they should be here any day?! Im hoping this solves my smog problem and when they go in and swap them out they can find any leaks in the exhaust(new gaskets) I cant wait to hear if my stock exhaust sounds any cleaner with new cats and any leaks filled

 

Back from the dead and forgive a naive question from a fairly new California resident:

Once you have a universal style Cali-legal/CARB EO'd catalytic convertor in hand, can any exhaust shop weld it in place or is there some legal restriction on exhaust shops doing this?

 

Depends on what shop you go to, some exhaust shops won't even bother touching anything CARB related even if you have paperwork and EO's etc. etc.

 

^^ That's frustrating. Well... okay. I have had Morse Muffler in Burbank say that to me as well but I wasn't asking him for a cat replacement estimate, just a quote for a full catback exhaust system so I didn't think anything of it at the time. UPDATE: Morse actually will install cats. They just won't do any that aren't OEM or CARB legal as per your car.

As Saleens281 mentioned above, I was able to find the Magnaflow #38105 for the SC300 rear cat. I just confirmed is has CARB EO #D-193-84 for the SC300 OBD1.

List is $315.00 but the guy on the phone at Magnaflow said it sold for $122.00 (vs the $1,700.00 I confirmed with Carson for the bolt-in OEM from Lexus). That's a no-brainer. The front OEM pre-cat is a more reasonable $320.00 from Carson.

Do Cali-spec aftermarket cats generally last several years? On a stock engine anyway?

 

They should last awhile under normal driving and if the engine is in good shape.

 

My engine is in good shape and tune. All stock. Can I interpret that as the cat being able to last a few years on a spiritedly driven (but not drag raced) daily driver?