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Car Forum / Chevrolet / Chevrolet Trucks / November 2004

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Cat. converter question.

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gfulton - 29 Oct 2004 19:42 GMT
My son and I are finishing up an installation of a 400 sm. block Chevy
engine into a '79 El Camino.  I just finished installing the aftermarket
dual exh. with two cat. converters.  2 1/2 inch pipes.   No H pipe,
(crossover), and probably won't get one.  The fellow who always does all the
inspections on our cars said he would pass this non-stock configuration if I
had the two converters and welded up a heat stove on the right side header
for the early fuel evaporation system,  which I've already done.   The
engine has a mild performance cam and an Edelbrock Performer intake
manifold, stock Q-jet that came off the old 305, and tube exh. headers.  Now
that the converters will only get 4 cylinders worth of flow and heat, and
the tube exh. headers will be dissipating more heat than the stock iron exh.
manifolds, will there likely be a problem with the car passing the idle
emissions test with the sniffer?   I know that a cat. converter must get to
approx. 600 degrees F. before it will light off, and I'm concerned that it
will cool down too much at idle and fail the emissions test for us.  Does
anybody have any experience with these type of modifications and any advice?
Thanks for any help.

Garrett Fulton
seeray - 31 Oct 2004 00:01 GMT
when you have the cats welded in, place them as close to the header as
possilbe, that will get you your 600 degrees and you should be fine

> My son and I are finishing up an installation of a 400 sm. block Chevy
> engine into a '79 El Camino.  I just finished installing the aftermarket
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
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gfulton - 30 Oct 2004 01:41 GMT
> when you have the cats welded in, place them as close to the header as
> possilbe, that will get you your 600 degrees and you should be fine

I did try to do that.  But because of the bends to clear the trans.
crossmember I couldn't get them much closer than about 2 ft. from the
collector.  No straight section long enough until that distance.  Also had
to stagger them as the sides of them would have touched.  Anyhow the
driver's side is closer to the collector and I'll always make sure he puts
the sniffer in that side.  Thanks seeray.

Garrett
Robie - 31 Oct 2004 20:59 GMT
What you can do is buy one of these inexpenxive temperature sensors, that
are hand held, and shots out a infared beam that measures the temperature
accurately, then it displays the tempature on the led display. should be
able to get one for around $100.00 or less. Look at www.jcwhitney.com they
have lots of them in there. Oh by the way do you have any relatives living
in south east Georgia. I had a relative that I remember from when I was
small, had the same name as yours. Take care. Robbie. Let me know how you
make out with your project. lmrii@aol.com
joseph cugnini - 01 Nov 2004 03:00 GMT
I beleive the requirement for a 79 idle test
is 400 ppm in most jurisdictions. Starting in
80 the requirements tighten to 220 ppm.
So you may be in luck with the test requirements.  If they let you, fast
idle
the engine at 2500 rpm for a minute just
before the test, that may keep the cat lit
off during the idle procedure. I've seen it work wonders with pickups
with relatively lengthy
sections of exhaust pipe before the cat. Also
are you using a honeycomb cat or sticking
with the old original pea material. Those older
"can of peas" cat  took quite a while to heat up.
Garrett Fulton - 01 Nov 2004 09:09 GMT
> I beleive the requirement for a 79 idle test
> is 400 ppm in most jurisdictions. Starting in
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> with the old original pea material. Those older
> "can of peas" cat  took quite a while to heat up.

It's got two new 2 1/2" inlet and outlet honeycomb cat. converters.  Good
advice on the fast idle and thanks for the specs. on the PPM.  There are two
long hills right before the place where the inspection guy is located.  I
was thinking I'd tell  my son to lean on it pretty hard going up those hills
before he got to the insp. shop to heat up the cat. converters.  And, Robie,
no I don't believe I've got any kin in Georgia.  Most of my branch of the
family settled in W. Arkansas.

Garrett Fulton
Marc Westerlind - 10 Nov 2004 18:04 GMT
> My son and I are finishing up an installation of a 400 sm. block Chevy
> engine into a '79 El Camino.  I just finished installing the aftermarket
> dual exh. with two cat. converters.  2 1/2 inch pipes.  

Do you have headers?

If they're mild steel, I hear that ceramic coating goes a long way
in keeping cats (and 02's in these newer vehicles) up to temp.

If they're stainless, supposedly they already keep more heat in than
coated mild steel.

-marc
 
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