Gutted Pre-cat
 

Just thought I would let everyone know that I gutted my precat 2 days ago and so far have not thrown a cel. I do feel a better idle and throttle response.

think you can gut your 2nd cat too?

if you stillpass the smog test will you "get away" with gutted cats if they do spot checks? it would be illegal of course but is it possible?

No I dont think I could gut the second cat especially with the design of it. I also dont want to either. My main grief was with the first one and I do notice a big difference without it. Well only way they would know is if they took my cat of to check the inside and I know of know shop that takes of your exhaust to check it. All they do is check to see if it is their.

It looks like a big coffee can rite of the manifold. almost looks like a turbo manifold with a big coffee can on it. What year is your second gen I thought all cars 96 and on came with a per-cat and regular cat.

I gutted my second cat a few weeks ago and it added (IMO) some low end power. I still have my primary cat. The second cat was pretty easy to do, it only took me about 2 hours.

I used a big metal bar, mallet, drill w/ long bits, and a flashlight.

Later

mines a 95

You shouldnt have a pre-cat then. All 96 cars and up regardless of manufacturer are obd II. Some 95 I think were but you know mazda they catch up late anyway these days.

on our 2nd gens, it is really tiny, it's just a hump bigger than the pipe, and it is almost right after the primary cat, it's actually called a resonator

A Pre cat would come before the Primary cat. The resonator is just a resonator.
JFTR, it isn't just a hump bigger than the pipe, it almost looks like a small muffler.