[goldengreek]

I may have a Cat going out. I discovered that ther is no after market ODB2 cat certified for the 1996 Impala SS. Cehvy no longer makes the driver sides Cat and the passenger side is $700. I spoke to the State Smog and discovered we are screwed. Cats are avaialble for all 49 stats, however they may or may not pass Ca smog tests. There are cats certified for trucks with LT-1 engine however they are not certified to engines. has anyone else sovled this problem.

Golden greek

 

[Buffman]

there are no trucks with an LT1 engine. Get some low mileage used cats for your year off ISSF or get aftmarket cats. As long as the smog passes you could pay someone to look the other cheek about the visual..

 

[maesstro]

Catco should get you through a smog. Technically, they are not CARB certified, but they appear no different than oem. It's not like the oem ones have a CARB# either, so the tech wouldn't notice the difference during the visual.

 

[capricewiz]

GM has a company they sell their old parts to called Vintage (I think that's the name), If you can, I'd definitely stick with GM for the cat. Ive had a lot of aftermarket cats come back and bite me in the ass later.

 

[77Impala]

Why would the pasanger cat not work for the drivers side? Also I am not aware of the cats being different from california and all other states.

Though I have not changed one yet do as Capricewiz said and stick to OEM, many people are finding that aftermarkets do not hold up as well.

Also might consider changing BOTH cats, that way they would look the same to the visual inspector. Of course here in Texas as long as the PCM has no fault codes and/or the smog sniffer finds everything in proper bounderies they do not look under the car.

Here in Texas the pre 96 cars they test with the smog sniffer, all 96 and newer they test only the PCM for trouble codes.

 

[capricewiz]

I think the difference with a california cat is they have lines for the air pump to connect to. I'm just not sure about the 96 B-body's though if they have that or if its a different setup

 

[maesstro]

The hook ups are entirely from different passenger to driver side. You could find a universal cat with a CARB# and weld it in place if you're that worried about it. I don't recommend a high flow one for smog testing though, others have failed with the random tech's.

The air pump does not come into play in regards to the cats. The 96 does need to have two bungs each for the o2 sensors, but I bet they're the same as 94 and 95 other than that.

 

[COLD STEEL]

I deal with smog everyday. Any aftermarket obd2 cat will work if your car is running reasonably well. You can even put on a cheaper one just to get you thru smog if thats what your looking for. Any more details, PM me.