Glowing Cat need advice

[Joe Bob]

A cheater bar is a steel pipe that goes over a ratchet handle or breaker bar to increase the angle of the dangle, (see Arcimedes) to break loose a bolt.....they can be used for other purposes. A BFH is a Big Fooking Hammer....

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

A cheater bar is a steel pipe that goes over a ratchet handle or breaker bar to increase the angle of the dangle, (see Arcimedes) to break loose a bolt.....they can be used for other purposes. A BFH is a Big Fooking Hammer....

More good information indeed!

[stormcrow]

Andy,

Your cat is blocked. Take it out and use a long steel rod - you can get rebar at HD and knock it out. The cat has two cells inside - over a period of time they start to crumble.

You will be surprised what you will see when you look down inside. I knocked the guts out of mine and just put the shell back - of course mine doesn' t need to be inspected - 78 SC Targa.

SteveKJR

[Andy911sc]

Got the guts out and no more glowing cat. runs better now when started, but no idle yet.

The car was sitting for 16 years and I did a lot of work to get it to this point. I have to keep pressure on the peddle to keep it running when I start it. All the white smoke has finally cleared from the marvel mystery oil I put to lub the top end. All new gas and techron in the engine. But it just shuts off when I got to let it idle. It seems over time the engine is starting to run more smoothly with each start. I am getting frustrated. I don't know if there is a serious issue with the CIS or does it just need to clear itself out from the 16 year storage.

Porwolf, I hope you can help me on this one since you stated before that yours was sitting for a long time.

[porwolf]

Hi Andy: Yes I am following your progress. And yes my 79 SC also languished in my garage for 16 years without any storage preparations. My total original mileage is 50,000 though. I did own the car since I bought it new. I never thought keeping it in strorage that long is a major problem. And it turned out not to be a major problem. My biggest hangup was the gunk in the bottom of the tank. I cleaned that out and the car hit the road. A little rough at first but after a few miles she ran like she used to. That was a year ago, and it ran ever since. I did not have problems with the idle. No smoke either. In your case I think it is worth actually driving the car around the neighborhood for an hour or so. See how that develops. I think a lot of issues clear up with driving it. I got a temporary license here in California from the AAA. They are the best people to deal with a car like that. I think once you drive it some issues sort themselves out. What maybe left is then easier to understand and go after. Do let us know what happens. We all want to see that beautiful car of yours in action!

[jchris]

I replaced my H/Es this winter with a nice used pair. Included was a gutted cat. I've noticed a nice improvement in accel as mine was badly clogged. The gutted cat showed no sign of being cut open, and there was nothing remaining of the old element. though I don't know how it was done. The thing I wanted to say most is think about saving the material as it is quite valuable. I sold my clogged cat to scrap inc for $90! That helped offset the cost of the H/Es nicely. Just a thought.

Chris