TheSamba.com :: View topic - CA Catalytic converter

Sat Sep 03, 2016 4:31 pm

Searching the threads....
I need to replace the CAT on my '88 Westfalia stock 2.1 . Yes it's CA smog check time. :P

I believe that this is the original.

Edit -

I found out that the beautiful image on ebay for the Magnaflow CAT is not what you get. I was a little disappointed, but then it's on a catalytic converter!

So basically the Magnaflow 339918 is the one.

Sat Sep 03, 2016 4:35 pm

I think the only legal bolt on catalytic converter is the Magnaflow (in California). Van cafe is selling the Magnaflow.

Eastern Manufacturing has a CARB compliant universal fit for $166 at amazon.
Airteck, Inc's website does not list a CA legal cat.
Car Sound Exhaust System is MAGNAFLOW

CARB list of Vanagon cats is:
N/A ALL Airtek, Inc. 91094 PRE-OBDII D-280-47 T-1 1 Underbody UNIVERSAL
N/A ALL Airtek, Inc. 91135 PRE-OBDII D-280-47 T-1 1 Underbody DIRECT FIT
N/A ALL Airtek, Inc. 98104 PRE-OBDII D-280-94 T-1 1 Underbody UNIVERSAL
N/A ALL Airtek, Inc. 98135 PRE-OBDII D-280-94 T-1 1 Underbody DIRECT FIT
N/A ALL Airtek, Inc. 88894 PRE-OBDII D-280-98 T-1 1 Underbody UNIVERSAL
N/A ALL Car Sound Exhaust System, Inc. 39034 PRE-OBDII D-193-85 T-1 1 Underbody UNIVERSAL
N/A ALL Car Sound Exhaust System, Inc. 39918 PRE-OBDII D-193-85 T-1 1 Underbody DIRECT FIT
N/A ALL Car Sound Exhaust System, Inc. 39958 PRE-OBDII D-193-85 T-1 1 Underbody DIRECT FIT
N/A ALL Car Sound Exhaust System, Inc. 339034 PRE-OBDII D-193-105 T-1 1 Underbody UNIVERSAL
N/A ALL Car Sound Exhaust System, Inc. 339918 PRE-OBDII D-193-105 T-1 1 Underbody DIRECT FIT
N/A ALL Car Sound Exhaust System, Inc. 339958 PRE-OBDII D-193-105 T-1 1 Underbody DIRECT FIT
N/A ALL Eastern Manufacturing Inc. 863010 PRE-OBDII D-665-2 T-1 1 Underbody UNIVERSAL

Sat Sep 03, 2016 5:34 pm

davideric9 wrote: I think the only legal bolt on catalytic converter is the Magnaflow (in California). Van cafe is selling the Magnaflow.

Thanks

Previous text deleted

Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:03 am

I see this image for Magnaflow, when searching ebay. Looks great! Does this exist...? No, because it's CG....

So this what it actually looks like. This is GoWesty s image of basically the same one that Van Café sells. This is what they look like

I like the fact that Gowesty and Van Café offer the gaskets and hardware.

Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:32 pm

I'd say the eBay one is not a photograph, its a well rendered cad drawing. Van-cafe is offering $75 off right now - I just got a spare yesterday.

Wed Sep 07, 2016 3:48 pm

thanks davideric9 !

I just purchased the Magnaflow 339918 for my '88 from Hottexhaust for a discount better than Van Cafes sale price.

Hottexhaust 800 288-7730 (John)

I'm disappointed that I won't be getting any cookies from Van Cafe :cry: , although I did order the gaskets and bolts from them. Too small a package for cookies...

Here's a shout out to Lindsay!, and the guys @ Van Cafe.Thanks for your help. Just don't call her "Wendy" :o

Price for everything delivered -$ 296.81

Peace

Thu Sep 08, 2016 9:54 am

on what end does the metal o-ring go. I am missing mine. Does it go in conjunction with the flat gasket or is it one or the other?

Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:50 pm

[email protected] wrote: on what end does the metal o-ring go. I am missing mine. Does it go in conjunction with the flat gasket or is it one or the other?

I'm on a roadtrip til next week. When I replace mine, I'll know more and let you know what I discover, unless of course someone else has an answer first :o

1800 miles on my trip and only one Vanagon in sight, at Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado :!:

Peace

Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:54 pm

[email protected] wrote: on what end does the metal o-ring go. I am missing mine. Does it go in conjunction with the flat gasket or is it one or the other?

some cats will accept the donut gasket, others the flat gasket. or eieith, all depends on who made the cat.

Mon Sep 12, 2016 6:16 am

[email protected] wrote: on what end does the metal o-ring go. I am missing mine. Does it go in conjunction with the flat gasket or is it one or the other?

The metal ring seal went on the inlet side on mine, but it also looked as if I could have used a flat gasket. If your surfaces are clean and would mate together flat I'd say either one. If the end of the long elbow pipe is flared for the cone and it fits I would use the metal ring.
I did notice on my Magnaflow CAT that when they welded the bolt-up mating fitting (3 hole triangle, didn't know what else to call it), the pipe from the CAT went in too far so the end of the pipe extended into the cone shape of the fitting so that the metal seal wasn't going to sit right up against the sealing surface of the bolt-up mating fitting as it did on the long elbow pipe of the exhaust.
The old metal ring that came off had the indentation of the pipe cut into it's surface on the CAT side so this is probably a common problem if is a problem at all creating a good seal?
I didn't hear any noise coming from it before I removed it, but if your looking at it wondering if it will work it seemed to work!

Sat Sep 24, 2016 8:17 pm

Back from my 3700 mile roadtrip to Mount Rushmore, unfortunately not in my Westfalia.
Saw one Vanagon and three Vanagon Westfalias on the whole trip. Awesome trip!...

Removed my CAT today, with the muffler. Easier to get to the bolts on the outlet side of the CAT whilst out of the car. Had to remove the muffler brackets to get it out. It appears to be the original equipment.

Visual inspection on the inside of the CAT looks like there is nothing wrong with it. It's intact, and I can see through it. Two years ago my '88 2.1 did not pass smog. I replaced the oxygen sensor , and the coolant sensor II.

My smog guy said " next time you need a smog check, replace the CAT."

Does this look like it needs to be replaced ? It looks clean, and you can see through it.

Can the CAT be bench tested ? #-o

Original muffler looks like it's seen better days. I'm thinkin, stainless !

:lol:

Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:20 am

a cat can look fine, but be dead. I know of no bench test, you put it on the car and test to see if it passes the smog test or not.

a new cat will last a long time if only bolted up for the smog test and promptly removed to a safe space in your garage between test dates. :twisted:

good luck

Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:36 am

Has anyone else noticed a difference in tone with this Cat? Mine has a tin sound to it and it vibrates like metal on metal contact at certain rpms. It it a bit louder too.

Just wondering. I can't see anything else loose and I noticed it right after I swapped the new cat in. I may buy a stock cat now and see if it goes away and just hang onto this for inspection time.

Fri Oct 28, 2016 9:19 am

davevickery wrote: Has anyone else noticed a difference in tone with this Cat? Mine has a tin sound to it and it vibrates like metal on metal contact at certain rpms. It it a bit louder too.

Just wondering. I can't see anything else loose and I noticed it right after I swapped the new cat in. I may buy a stock cat now and see if it goes away and just hang onto this for inspection time.

Check that the O2 sensor is fully screwed into the bung. It's often not easy to see from a quick look.

I picked up my westy from a workshop that installed the RMW stainless steel exhaust, and they didn't screw in the O2 sensor correctly. It was rattling around loose in the bung after a few trips (heat cycles). I added some sensor safe anti-sieze to the threads and torqued it down to the bentley spec. No rattle noise since then.

Fri Oct 28, 2016 9:33 am

davevickery wrote: Has anyone else noticed a difference in tone with this Cat? Mine has a tin sound to it and it vibrates like metal on metal contact at certain rpms. It it a bit louder too.

Just wondering. I can't see anything else loose and I noticed it right after I swapped the new cat in. I may buy a stock cat now and see if it goes away and just hang onto this for inspection time.

hollow out the old one and run with that, or if the old one is not clogged, run it, save the fancy one for smog check.

also note the 49 state catalyst is legal to run, it is illegal to sell for use or install since a past date, dont tell the smog tech that the cat was recently installed if you are running a 49 state one. if the 49 state one was installed before they changed the requiement, it is legal. if you volenteer to the tech that the cat is newly installed and it is not a california only cat, then you may run into problems.

a friend of mine installed a new california legal cat on his subaru. it was a weld in cat. the cat was installed such that the california complience tag was facing up against the floor board. He mistakingly mentioned it was a new cat to the smog tech, red flags and bells went off in the smog techs little head, the smog tech insisted that the cat either be cut out so he could read the complience tag, or that a hole be cut in the floor from the inside for that purpose. friend left that shop and went to another than was not so anal. car passed the tail pipe test just fine.
Many of these fricken equipment laws are simply designed to make owning a clasic car to expensive, the smog nazis want you to get your car off the road, and you ride a bus or the bullet train to nowhere. ugh!!!!! :oops: :oops: with the money being spent on the bullet train the state could afford to put a brand new cat on every car in the state every year till the end of time.

Sat Oct 29, 2016 10:00 am

[quote="davevickery"]Has anyone else noticed a difference in tone with this Cat?

I just recently installed the Magnaflow CAT along with the GoWesty SS muffler, brackets, and tail pipe. The new setup is definitely not as " quiet" as the stock setup that I just replaced. Not sure if the CAT adds to the throatier sound.

I did pass the CA smog :D

Stock 2.1, 1988

Tue Dec 19, 2017 8:27 am

Greetings,

I need a new cat for my 1988 European-spec Pritsche. I'm considering Van Cafe's California-legal product as I'll eventually take the truck there. All of the fitting/flanges seem to match up. Any idea if this would work & if I'd need anything else to make it CA legal?

TIA, Greg

Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:23 am

the GW SS muffler is a straight thru design like the old Thrush mufflers... you can see thru one end to the other. but it is a nice muffler and i like the tone.

i used a Walker 15612 cat that isn't nearly as large as the Van-Cafe cat, tho it was only $90. fearing excessive backpressure from the small cat, i checked at the tap prior to the cat and had 0.5psi at idle and saw an absolute max of about 1.0-1.5psi revving higher than i cared to go. so the backpressure is okay with the small Walker.

-dan

Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:09 pm

hanzonn wrote: Greetings,

I need a new cat for my 1988 European-spec Pritsche. I'm considering Van Cafe's California-legal product as I'll eventually take the truck there. All of the fitting/flanges seem to match up. Any idea if this would work & if I'd need anything else to make it CA legal?

TIA, Greg

https://www.arb.ca.gov/html/master_faqs/vehicle_faqs/greymarket_cars_faq.htm

Tue Aug 05, 2025 1:19 pm

Dana Champion wrote: So basically the Magnaflow 339918 is the one.

If helpful since these seem hard to get - I just put one in the classifieds that I got with a van. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2757400