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catalytic converter on a 1976 eldorado

Started by 76 cadillac bob, September 24, 2019, 06:52:54 PM

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76 cadillac bob

My mechanic is going to remove the inside of my CC, is there a way I can do it myself? We will leave the shell, for appearances. 
Regards
Cadillac Bob

Big Fins

Having no emissions requirements in Florida, mine has been simply removed. It made a huge difference in the way the engine breathes.
Current:
1976 Eldorado Convertible in Crystal Blue FireMist with white interior and top. (Misty Blue)
1969 Fleetwood Brougham in Chalice Gold FireMist with matching interior and top. (The Old Man) SOLD!

Past and much missed:
1977 Brougham de Elegance
1976 Eldorado Convertible
1972 Fleetwood Brougham
1971 Sedan de Ville
1970 de Ville Convertible
1969 Sedan de Ville
1959 Sedan deVille

Jeff Wilk

Are there many States that still have an emissions test for properly registered Classic Cars? I’m not sure but I thought even very stringent States like NJ, NY, and CA did away with that. If so in your State cant you simply take its pellets out though the plug?
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

jagbuxx #12944

California requires smog check for 1976 and newer :(
Frank Burns #12944
76 Coupe d'Elegance EFI Galloway Green Firemist
70 deVille Convert San Mateo Red
61 Coupe Deville Bristol Blue
41 Series 61 Deluxe Coupe 6127D Black
08 STS 3.6 1SC  Thunder Gray
16 GTI Gray
03 T-Bird Black
16 Grand Cherokee Summit, Granite
19 Tiffin Phaeton 40AH
07 Corvette Blue
20 MB S450 White

"Whatever the occasion, there
is no better way to arrive than in a Cadillac.

Big Fins

If the Cat has a good case, you can take the pellets out. Removing the plug may be a job though. It's been rusted in place by heat near 1000oF for years. The case on mine was like Swiss cheese.
Current:
1976 Eldorado Convertible in Crystal Blue FireMist with white interior and top. (Misty Blue)
1969 Fleetwood Brougham in Chalice Gold FireMist with matching interior and top. (The Old Man) SOLD!

Past and much missed:
1977 Brougham de Elegance
1976 Eldorado Convertible
1972 Fleetwood Brougham
1971 Sedan de Ville
1970 de Ville Convertible
1969 Sedan de Ville
1959 Sedan deVille

Dave Shepherd

Be careful handling those pellet's, mask and gloves. :-[

bcroe

When upgrading/replacing the exhaust (to stainless steel) of my 70s cars,
the cat was replaced with a monolithic type.  This was considered legal,
effective, and passed many inspections in IL.  Monolithic is much more
compact and has much less back pressure, esp against an old original. 

This plan pretty much implies a single exhaust, I used 2.5 inch for small
block and 3 inch for larger.  The improvement in performance was
noticeable, the increase in noise was slight.  Bruce Roe

76 cadillac bob

Hi all
I live in Idaho now and classic cars of this age do not require emission testing, I lived in Calif and it was a B_ _ch to smog, my wonderful mechanic tweaked it to pass.
I had the whole exhaust replaced 3 years ago so it is relatively new. The heat from the CC really gets the cabin hot so doing away with it will solve many issues.

hornetball

Those early catalytic converters were very inefficient and restrictive.  Plus, the cars didn't control AFR very well, so they tended to clog and burn up.

I think catalytic converters (especially the new ones) are darn near miraculous devices and I try to install newer technology ones if the car originally came with one.  But on a machine without EGO feedback (like a '76 Caddy), I think it's a waste of time as their life will be short.

bcroe

In emission testing days, I found a new monolithic converter on a
79 daily car, gave good test results.  2 years later it was poorer,
and more so in 4 years.  After 6 years I put on a new one and the
car went back to the original good results. 

I purposely moved out of the testing area, but soon after the state
dropped testing.  Good move, the new cars were so good that is
was a waste of time.  Bruce Roe

toukow

Quote from: Big Fins on September 25, 2019, 05:37:00 AM
If the Cat has a good case, you can take the pellets out. Removing the plug may be a job though. It's been rusted in place by heat near 1000oF for years. The case on mine was like Swiss cheese.

I did this on mine a few weeks ago. I hit the plug with Kroil and tapped with hammer, repeat. Let it sit for day and used a breaker bar with extension and it popped loose. Obviously a case by case situation, as I can see how it would be easy to destroy the housing if degraded. Used the shop vac with a piece of 5/8" hose to suck out the beads. Used a mask, and should have used gloves as recommended. Have a large garbage or other suitable container underneath to catch the spillage. Dean

76eldo

I solved that problem by putting on a 71-74 exhaust system.
Between that crazy cast iron box that goes into the convertor and the convertor itself there’s a lot of restriction there.
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado