which is..um.. MORE illegal lol...

[fasTTA707]

my friends and i had a little debate about this the other night so i figured i'd ask the people with the answers...

which is more illegal (in the state of california)... to get caught with a "gutted" catylitic covertor, or to get caught with an open "dump" or an exhaust cutoff outlet while youre driving?

this was MY side of the debate maybe someone can school me if i'm way off....

i said that, and this is assuming that you aren't a total dick to the officer that pops you, if you get caught with a gutted cat or no cat at all, that you're more than likely looking at a major fine and/or an impounded car. if you get caught with a dump that has the flange removed while driving on the street you're looking at a noise pollution violation more than likely plus a fix-it ticket for illegal exhaust in which case if the officer is cool they may let you bolt the flange back up and give you a warning.

neither one is a good idea but which is the lesser of the two evils? thanks alot

[ThirdgenTa]

How the hell are they going to know that it is gutted?

[fasTTA707]

...i've heard stories of people getting caught but never actually found out for sure if the stories were even true.... but good point... let me change "gutted cat" to NO CAT... now which is worse? thanks, take care

[ThirdgenTa]

<----- I am running open headers right now and the only problem I am having is everyone trying to race me.

[fasTTA707]

i wish i could even attempt doing that.... but like i said, i'm in ca where things are a little more strict. i bet your car screams i used to have a 3rd gen RS with just a 5.0 and no muffler and it sounded nice so i can imagine what yours sounds like running open headers. sweet.

[ThirdgenTa]

funniest thing tonight.. I was driving to the place to get my exhaust on tongiht at like 10pm. I turn onto the street and there is a younger cop doing a report with his light on in his car. As soon as I turn he looks up and the look on his face was priceless. He looked like a deer caught in headlights :)

[jag7819]

:) Yes I remember when i had my open headers. The sound was unbelievable...and yes there were plenty of people trying to race

[KamaroZ'91]

DOnt tell him the car is gutted, unless of course the cop takes his saw out of his trunk to hack the cat off and then weld it bacl on for you. :)

[scuba91ta]

they can tell if yoru cat is gutted or not - they whip out a IR temp probe, if its hotter than the rest of the exchuats then ur good to go... ive seen em do it here in ct...

[ThirdgenTa]

Originally posted by scuba91ta
they can tell if yoru cat is gutted or not - they whip out a IR temp probe, if its hotter than the rest of the exchuats then ur good to go... ive seen em do it here in ct...

That's pretty wild. They don't do anything like that around here. They don't even look under your car most of the time.

[Midnight Sun]

But... if it is gutted you could always play stupid.

"I didnt know it was like that, I havent touched the exhaust since i bought it"

Brings up a funny andecote.

My history teacher had an old datsun (I think he said a 76 or 77 z), and he completety redid the engine and exhuast. He had homemade exhaust running out of it, with no cat or muffler.

He had also dropped all emissions equipment. Then he tuned it and what not.

Apparently, he actually had the car running cleaner (when fully tuned) without all that smog junk on then when it was stock.

But when he went for the sniffer test they asked him to pop the hood, and actually would not let him get new tabs for it untill he put everything back on, therefore making it run dirtier...

Makes no sense.