Anybody ever try to weld in their own aftermarket CAT? I'm tired of paying some shop too much to weld in a cheap CAT. If I do my own, at least I have some input into what I'm buying.

I understand some aftermarket CATs look like the real deal but have very little actual meat inside. I want to find something halfway good.

I should add I'm not a highly experienced welder. Thinking about buying a used MIG welder to do this. I'll practice on scrap a lot before I attempt it.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I just bought the whole assembly from http://www.import-catalytic-converter-warehouse.com. Price was 1/10 of what the dealer wanted and I just passed state emissions easily.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

For that cost, I would forget the used welder, buy the whole pipe and cat welded up and spend your extra time driving instead of praticing welding.

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Christopher Henkel
1990 190E 2.6 - Arctic white SOLD
1986 190E-16v - Blauswartze
1993 300CE - SOLD
2003 W208 CLK 320 Cabriolet - Magma Red

I thought about that but I previously had one welded in so the flange that I would attach the front part of the exhaust assembly (BMW 325i), the part with the CAT, to the rear part is missing. I'd have to buy the back half at a junk yard and the complete assembly costs around $400 anyway.

I'd like to have my own welder for a variety of reasons, by doing this I could pretty much pay for it with this operation.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Hey, good link, I might go that route. This is not the ultra cheapo, which would be around $120 but this route, with the front part of the pipes attached, is almost certainly a better CAT and would be less work. I could just weld it to the rear part of the exhaust.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K