De-Cat - Legality

[Overhere]

So, I know several TVR owners who have removed the cats and I want to do the same, when I ask about MOT the two common answers are:

1) Put the cats in at MOT time

2) Find a friendly MOT station, he's MOT'ed it with the cats on so he knows it will pass "wink, wink"

So, as it happens I have a very friendly MOT guy, AND I have the ACT exhaust, if I buy the straight through cat replacement pipe it's actually pretty easy to swap it over for the MOT.

OK, this is all pretty easy and straight forward, BUT, the big question is...

If you're involved in an... incident, that requires investigation and insurance... you know what I'm saying, if you accidentally stuff your precious into another car and they investigate and SEE there are no Cats... I.E. it's NOT MOT legal, are you fked?

[spend]

There is no legal requirement to have cats as such AFIK, just the emissions tests to meet...

[ralphy12345]

Speaking from a biker's perspective and experience ...... insurance companies are very keen to look for any "modification or enhancement" on a vehicle when a claim is being investigated.

So perhaps the removal of a catalytic converter could cause an issue.

R

Edited by ralphy12345 on Friday 24th December 21:55

[m4ckg]

mine is straight through de catted and sailed through the m.o.t.

[Overhere]

M4, when you say sailed through, you mean it passed the Co emissions, or "wink, wink"?

[omgus]

Not a tiv, but, my cars de-cat is declared with the insurance company didn't increase the premium.
And aren't MOT's only technically valid for one day.

[dog man]

I'm sure I heard a specialist saying they will still pass with just the pre cats removed.

[bigdods]

dog man said:

I'm sure I heard a specialist saying they will still pass with just the pre cats removed.

True. I have no pre-cats (but still have main dustbin cat) and passes every year.

[Ozmira]

bigdods said:

dog man said:

I'm sure I heard a specialist saying they will still pass with just the pre cats removed.

True. I have no pre-cats (but still have main dustbin cat) and passes every year.

+1

[ralphy12345]

Ozmira said:

bigdods said:

dog man said:

I'm sure I heard a specialist saying they will still pass with just the pre cats removed.

True. I have no pre-cats (but still have main dustbin cat) and passes every year.

+1

A question for those who have had it done, please: what are the benefits/advantages?

R

[TVR Beaver]

insurance... Make sure they know... Had a mate who did this... had a prang... and no pay out....
they will get out of it in any way they can saying its modified as a car of this year should have a CAT etc....

[Overhere]

Thank you TVR Beaver, I guess this is the heart of my question, I've done so many modifications to my car over the years and I always list all of the mods to my insurance company and I always ask them to acknowledge them back to me, funny how they never do, it worries me. I alwasy keep evidence of telling them "just in case"

Thanks everyone for your help, in summary, it's not a legal requirement to have cats, but if you remove them, tell the insurance company!

[bigdods]

ralphy12345 said:

Ozmira said:

bigdods said:

dog man said:

I'm sure I heard a specialist saying they will still pass with just the pre cats removed.

True. I have no pre-cats (but still have main dustbin cat) and passes every year.

+1

A question for those who have had it done, please: what are the benefits/advantages?

R

Just peace of mind. Most chims are getting on a bit now and the precats are a known weak point. They can break up and block the exhaust. When my exhaust gaskets were changed lst year I had them remove the precats as precautionary maintenance even though they were in perfect condition. One less thing to worry about.

[ralphy12345]

bigdods said:

ralphy12345 said:

Ozmira said:

bigdods said:

dog man said:

I'm sure I heard a specialist saying they will still pass with just the pre cats removed.

True. I have no pre-cats (but still have main dustbin cat) and passes every year.

+1

A question for those who have had it done, please: what are the benefits/advantages?

R

Just peace of mind. Most chims are getting on a bit now and the precats are a known weak point. They can break up and block the exhaust. When my exhaust gaskets were changed lst year I had them remove the precats as precautionary maintenance even though they were in perfect condition. One less thing to worry about.

Thanks. Never knew that.

R

[Chris71]

spend said:

There is no legal requirement to have cats as such AFIK, just the emissions tests to meet...

Presumably there are various different styles of de-cat exhaust out there, so the complexity of putting a catalyst back on the main pipe for MOT time will vary depending on the car?

[spend]

OP is talking about Tim's exhaust which has 2 bolt in racing cats that can be easily replaced with decat pipes. He was very specific even though some of the posts seem to have ignored the focus of the thread which may be causing some confusion?

[900T-R]

Confusion probably stems from the OP saying he's got the ACT exhaust (which to most will mean the exhaust systemconnecting to the Y-piece) while the decat pipes/bolt in racing cats option comes with the ACT exhaust manifolds.

[Jon Brown]

How does one remove the pre cats?, dont remember seeing this in the tvr guide.

Would many people recomend it

[spend]

Jon Brown said:

..dont remember seeing this in the tvr guide.

Its a no brainer to remove the pre-cats IMHO, no idea what guide you refer to though so maybe I'm a tad behind modern thinking .

[TJC46]

Jon Brown said:

How does one remove the pre cats?, dont remember seeing this in the tvr guide.

Would many people recomend it

Some have done this in situ but IMO its best to remove the exhaust manifolds,to remove the precats. You basically attack them with a long masonary bit and an old but sharp wood chisel. A little while later[} and no more precats. I have found the only noticable benefit is a reduction in under bonnet temp, but anything in this dept is worth the hassle. The precats are in the sections directly before the 90 degree bends. Access to remove them is thru the bend, but be careful not to damage the lambda sensors.

The approx 75mm section before each bend is the precats location, good luck, Tom