Catalytic Converter vs 2nd Muffler

[mbboy]

OK. Here's the story. The cat on my 380sl was plugged because of a valve stem seal issue. So I temporarily replaced it with a straight pipe, just to see what the effect would be, at least until I can get the seals done. Voila! The car is now far more responsive than it ever was, and I'd venture to say that it has 15-20% more power than before. However, removing the cat made the car noticeably louder.

My question: considering that I only drive the car occasionally, and it's registered as a classic, which doesn't have to pass emissions inspections, I was thinking about replacing the cat with a second muffler -- to hopefully muffle the sound without robbing the car of its newly found power, as I suspect a cat probably would.

So I was wondering what the pros and cons of doing this would be, ideally without getting into a long discussion of the associated environmental issues.Thanks very much is advance for any advice anyone can give me on this.

[tk0084]

Doesn't the 380 have a mid muffler like the 450?

I've been wanting to remove the cats on my 450, I know, I'm vile & evil (same letters in those 2 words BTW, lol) but just dont' know what's envolved, was it easy to remove the cats?

[ctaylor738]

... but you're going to have to figure this out on your own. If your car came with a cat, it is a violation of numerous laws to remove it. Don't expect the Forum to support you in doing stuff like this.