alright guys... ive been thinking... since the long tubes are illegal in cali, do u think there is a way i could relocate my cats to be right after the headers so it would be smog legal? like in the y pipe area just cut out a piece of pipe and put the cat in that spot... something to that extent... or is there even enough room to do that? also i would have to relocate the o2 sensor to a diff spot... any suggestions?

 

Why are longtubes illegal in Cali??

The TOG headers are a midlength and I know at least 2 CALI folk running them with aftermarket cats and they pass smog in Cali. I dont see why a true longtube would be any different??

As long as they sniff clean they will pass wont they??
Mine sniff clean and there is about 2 ft of pipe in between the colectors and cats. But I am in Canada.
Moving the cats closer to the headers will only lessen the time that the cat takes to light off. Once a cat lights off it shouldnt matter where it is located.

peace
Hog

 

well i was talkin to a guy at a muffler shop out here and he said the only thing that i could do legally out here in cali was get shortys... idk how they do the testing but one thing i do know is they get pretty butt hurt if u dont have cats... so i was gonna try and relocate them on the y-pipe... and then ill have to figure out wat to do with the o2 sensor

 

There are two characteristics of longtube headers that make them illegal here. First, the catalytic converter will be located further back in the exhaust which increases the time it takes the cats to light up on a cold starts leading to greater cold-start emissions. The other reason is that long tube headers typically locate the oxygen sensor in one of the primary tubes so the wires can reach. In that configuration, the other three cylinders could all be burning inefficiently and the PCM would not be compensating. With some custom work yourself it would be easy to locate an oxygen sensor in the collector and lengthen the wiring harness.

 

yea thats wat i figured... damn cali laws... i think im just gonna go with the shortys cuz i dont wanna go through all the trouble of puttin the Lt's in and im thinkin about supercharging in later on down the road and i have a couple friends with shortys and superchargers on their rides and they say they work great together

 

I'm not sure how you feel about bending the rules...

I modified my "The Other Guys Headers" by cutting off the flange and lengthing the 2.5" collector down to a 2.5 to 3" reducer and 3-bolt flange to work with a dual 3" exhaust system. In this configuration it passed smog without any voodoo. These headers come with an EO#... they're still TOGs, just modified slightly!

 

howd that work out for u dude?

 

The TOGs are mid-length, so they don't bolt up to the stock downpipes anyway. With the headers like this the flanges are much easier to get to. I have no complaints. They flow and work great. These headers have extra thick head flanges and they're very well made. (I cracked two sets of JBA's with the Supercharger) My only exhaust regret is ever buying Magnaflow catalytic converters. The stock ones are back on down but re-piped to 3". In a few weeks I'll be adding two more mufflers (4 total) in search of the silent but truly free-flow exhaust system.

 

would the mid lengths still use the stock cat locations? and how much were they?

 

They have to have the cats moved slightly for alignment, but they stay the same distance back int he exhaust. Ceramic-coated TOG Headers are about $900 making them just about the most expensive headers out there. They're built to last and balanced with different primary sizes. These are the only headers I see hold up under forced induction. They might be a little bit overkill for a naturally aspirated engine. It's up to you.