Failed Emissions, what does it mean?

[flaatr@yahoo.com (EUROROC II)]

My 84 8V's cat went south about 3 years after I got the car and the dealer 
didn't want to replace it under warrantee. They claimed it was damaged by 
my engine modifications (Neuspeed TB). Long story here but I decided to 
de-cat my car but I didn't want to throw in a test pipe so I took the cat 
off, those of you with 8V's consider yourself lucky that you can unbolt the 
thing, and using a piece of pipe and a hammer I broke up and removed the 
elements. After installing it back on the car it acted like a resonator, a 
bad one, so I took it off again and had a speed shop slightly widen the 
openings and weld a pipe straight thru it. I reinstalled that and went back 
to the dealer to get tested. I passed. They asked me if I bought a used cat 
somewhere and I answered,

"Uhmmm, yeah! used cat... That's what I have (snicker, snicker)"

Car passed every 2 years without a problem and without a cat... Would 
easily pass visual too if anyone ever looked.

-Raffi

At 12:34 PM 3/30/2002 +0800, you wrote:
> > I dont have a cat, but dont think thats wy I failed, but now that they saw
> > that there isn't one i have to put one in, oh well.
> >
>
>I just had a thought.  For those of you running downpipes and headers, 
>anybody ever thought of constructing a fake cat?  Maybe cut the old one 
>off of the old pipe or just getting one from the scrap yard.  gut it out, 
>make a few cuts, and then attach it over the downpipe/header about where a 
>cat would go.  You could take this fake cat "shell" on/off when emission 
>time came.
>
>This is all assuming that the guy doing the visual isn't very thorough or 
>too attentive, and that you can actually pass without a real cat.
>
>What do you all think of this idea.  Am i crazy, could it work?  I'll 
>eventually go to the TT downpipe w/o cat and may need to look into 
>something like this...
>--
>
>
>Doug C.
>'88 16v
>Raleigh, NC
>
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