Should I replace cat from 1984 ?
 

My California spec. 3.2 Carrera from 1984 has about 130 thousand miles on the clock.
I was told to fit a new cat to safe fuel.

Has anyone experienced this ?
Which cat should I choose ?

I had an old cheap jag xj6 that was actually quite expensive that lost so much power the car wouldn't go over 55mph. The mechanic cleaned the cat and the car returned to it's quick self. So, i'm guessing that a cat from '84 might need replacing or a good bath. I had JUST put a bottle of injector cleaner that said on the front, 'won't clog catalytic converters'. doth protest too much!

I was running the stock cat in my 3.2 (1984) at 200k miles on the clock and it is still in good condition. I replaced that cat with a bypass but swap when its time for the smog check.

Unless your car is in poor running condition or has been neglected the cat should still be in good condition.

I wasn't aware you could actually clean out a cat... that's interesting.

One more thing... I noticed your location is Germany but the car is a Calif car. There are specific cats for california. (if you should ever have the car brought back to the US.) The only difference between a Calif cat and a 49 state cat is the numbering stamped on it. (That info is coming right from a muffler manufacturer in Calif.)

Thank you for these replies.
I did not know you can clean a cat either.

The car is running perfectly.
Still I would like to know if I can safe fuel with a
modern cat.

No, the cat has no bearing on fuel economy unless it it clogged. If it is not clogged, there is no reason to replace it.

What type of Air Filter do you have?

IF OEM consider a K&N type to obtina better flow. I have noted a drop in fuel economy when I went back to a modified OEM air filter and box. Caveat, Better flow in = more debris, choose your poisin. I opted to keep the engine clean as much as possible.

Yes, a clogged cat could not only give you bad fuel economy it will also bog her down to eventually a crawl and stall, SHE CAN"T BREATHE!!! Consider the cat by-pass route to insure that will never happen.

FI Cleaner to clean a cat, interesting???? Has anyone else done this???

Here are two methods to cleaning your cat:

Fixing Bad Catalytic Converters With Inefficiency Code P0420 - YouTube

I guess my cat needs a bath :-P