I am going to remove the cat from a head pipe and am looking for a little info. I have found a thread on cutting the cat in half and removing the material, but I would prefer to cut a coupon in the side to make the removal.

I have seen a pic of it done that way, but can't seem to find it or any info on now. If the coupon is cut out, how hard is it to seperate the coupon from the underlying cat material and can it be done without bending or messing up the coupon.

Any help will be appreciated.

Bill

 

Either way you do it it must be welded back with stainless. Preferable TIG process. Low heat, and good weld! Both ways are better than trying to poke it out. You can't get it all !
If you cut a coupon out you can always cut the material from the side with anything flat & sharp. Like a stiff putty knife. It's not real strong. Cut one long side & two short ends & leave one long side uncut. I haven't done one that way (coupon), but the less cutting the better.
If you cut in half in the proper place the weld will be under the heat shield band when finished. But you must be exact in the alignment when you weld it back. Use the .045" thickness cutting abrasive blades, or a band saw for the cut. Loose as little metal as you can.
Save the material from the cat as you can sell it for around $40-$60 to a place that collects CATS.
You can also buy a NON California 2009 header and add the extension for the one side for the trike. You get a pair, but you can also sell one side.
Good Luck....

 

Hey let me know where I can get $40 for the guts as I just did 2 pipes and I have a 3 lb coffee can full of it . I called 4 places and got maybe $20 for ti all to $3 a pound. Are you just guessing at that $40 or what ?

 

Check out- www.americancustom.com. They have the head pipe already cleaned out with a power chamber in its place.

 

Prices go up and down just like Aluminum. It has Platinum in the mix. I got $41 2 yrs ago out of one of these headers. They said at the time it had been almost $60 a month before. I haven't sold any since, but the price should be higher. The price of all precious metals is up.

 

In case you need a stock headpipe for licensing or the new buyer wants stock. See about a replacement headpipe.Eventually you may need it and a new one from HD would be lots of cash if everyone needs one.Just a suggestion.

 

Found the info I needed on cutting the coupon and I have a friend that is a world class professional welder that can TIG it back together for me.

Next question, does anyone know if a 2-1-2 header such as the Jackpot will give a big increase in power over just a de-cat? I'm looking more at heat issues, but power is always nice, and if there is a significant power difference, I might consider a header.

My local dealer gave me a take off header pipe for the Limited, so we can pratice, and I will just use it on the Limited if all goes well.

Thanks for the replies and help.

Bill

 

Bill, you probably won't see much help in the power, but it does help in the heat around your feet. If you do an AC, muffs, & a tuner you will definitely feel a difference.
And you don't really need to go crazy on money to do that. The tuner is the most cost.

 

The difference if any will be not very noticable, you'd need a dyno to see it. The decat will help shed a fair amount of heat, a good tune would help more.

 

Bill, just a thought, while you have the header off, before you put it back on heat wrap it with some good wrap. It will help a lot with the heat ! Also use some anti seize (O2 compatible) on the O2 sensors when you put them back in.