cat & downpipe

[doctor rage]

Hi

As a cheap alternative to trying to find a downpipe & decat that fit properly and dont cause error codes; would there be much to be gained by buying a second hand cat for the ibiza cupra, gutting it and swapping it over with the original cat (till MOT time obviously)?

Does the downpipe also form a large part of the restriction?

Would the sensors on the cat throw up the same faults as per fitting an aftermarket decat where you have to have a nut welded onto the pipe in order to lift the lambda sensor out of the exhaust flow?

Let me know if you think this is a worthy idea or if I'd be wasting my time

Please nobody tell me I need to get a sports cat - I'd get one if I had the money, and besides it's not much of a problem getting under the car once a year to swap a section of exhaust.

Thanks
Stephen

 

[acidstrato]

Please nobody tell me I need to get a sports cat - I'd get one if I had the money, and besides it's not much of a problem getting under the car once a year to swap a section of exhaust.

Thanks
Stephen

if you cant afford a sports cat then dont get one.... but dont look for a bodge as an alternative

if you wanna get under the car removing the DP then crack on son, but dont make out its a piece of cheese crackers until you've tried it. snapped bolts aint cool. i assure you it is abit of a problem

do a search on decats and find out for yourself the issues you'll face and how to get around them. in short; you will have an engine light, you will have running issues eventually andyou will think to yourself " i wish i'd saved for a DP with a sports cat"

 

[cupramillo]

I agree with the comments above, i was gg to go decat but couldnt be arsed with MOT time and errors coming up so i just saved up for a blueflame downpipe, 200 cell and not had a problem with it at all. Even Blueflame thenselves had issues getting my standard downpipe off! Easiest options is often the right choice.

 

[Reuvers]

I agree with the above, but then again I also don't lol

search for more threads concerning this, as I have posted several times that I run a decat without problems (besides mot that is)

I run the Golf decat from ebay. It will need adjusting though.

 

[doctor rage]

if you cant afford a sports cat then dont get one.... but dont look for a bodge as an alternative

if you wanna get under the car removing the DP then crack on son, but dont make out its a piece of cheese crackers until you've tried it. snapped bolts aint cool. i assure you it is abit of a problem

do a search on decats and find out for yourself the issues you'll face and how to get around them. in short; you will have an engine light, you will have running issues eventually andyou will think to yourself " i wish i'd saved for a DP with a sports cat"

Cheers fella's, this is the kind of info I was after - I don't wan't to waste my time for something not worth doing, or something thats going to give me a whole load of problems. I've done decats and downpipes on several of my previous cars - 5GTT, 106 rallye 16v, Mr2 turbo, GT4, but every car is different & some more difficult than others.

I hardly think gutting the cat is a 'bodge' - at least it still uses the original Seat pipework and is a guaranteed perfect fit, unlike aftermarket stuff. It's as close to OEM as a decat can get.

 

[Reuvers]

but I must say that only one aspect of this is lighted here...

Honestly, if you have that much trouble removing a downpipe that says more about your personal mechanics skills than about the car.
Obviously a bolt can snap...but that's with everything you work on.

IMO for the 65 quid I paid for my decat a year ago, it was well worth it. And yes I did need to hack it in 2 places and weld it and remove it for MOT but its still worth it for me (keywords being for me here)

but its down to you in the end

 

[acidstrato]

LOL personal mechanic skills...

ok its straight forward but it is certainly not easy, main issues are lack of access/room to work and seized bolts of which if you do snap one (and they snap very easily) you will need to be fairly clever and have atleast some level of skill getting it out and replacing the snapped bolt on the turbo's exhaust outlet.

ok i paid 300quid for my milltek downpipe but then i wanted a perfect fit on to the rest of the milltek system and i didnt want hassle in chaning it come mot day. BUT as a bonus point, when i do remove it, it will be to flog it and get at the very least half of my money back, infact i was previously offered £350 and a stock full system to replace my full milltek but i turned it down


its up to you though at the end of the day

 

[Reuvers]

acid I completely understand what you;re saying and I wasn't mocking you with the "personal mechanic skills".
As you said problems can arise and sometimes you need to be creative to solve them. I completely understand why some let it to the 'proffesionals' and right they are...in their own sense.

All I'm saying here is that the expensive route of perfect fits isn't the only route.

which road you chose is up to the individual