The cat is full of shirt!

Post by **maybs** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:20 pm

Yeah... I've been kicking myself for a day now. I finally got all the repairs done on the cavalier, one of which was to re-weld a flange at the manifold end of the exhaust pipe cuz the factory weld sucked and was leaking bad. I have just confirmed that I failed to remove the sleeve of a t-shirt that I had stuffed into the pipe to keep metal shavings out of the cat. And... since running the engine for about 30 seconds is what brought this to my attention... the piece of shirt is no longer in the exhaust pipe, but is in the cat, preventing any exhaust from coming out the muffler. I tried futilely to retrieve the shirt using a drain auger. I suppose my next approach will be to take the pipe/cat assembly completely out and try using the auger from different angles. But, if that doesn't work, I'll have to cut the pipe off of the cat in order to get better access. Does anybody have any suggestions? If I still can't get to the shirt with the pipe off, would it hurt the cat to throw some flame up in there to try and burn it out?

Post by **alk1174** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:07 pm

DOH!!

I would just sawzall off the cat and weld it back. I would think if you cut close to the cat it would be easy to get out and the metal there is usually thick making it easier to weld back. Another option would be to use a hole saw and cut a hole in the pipe. It maybe easier to weld up if its hard to get to one side of the pipe. I dont know about all cats but mine is the honeycomb type and I would think trying to burn the shirt up would leave possible pieces that could clog the cat.

Post by **maybs** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:40 pm

This is driving me nuts! I took the exhaust back off... completely removed it from the vehicle since I was planning on hacking it up and doing some fishing. Well... I can't find any evidence of there being anything wrong. The drain auger feels like it's just hitting the cat material (a screen probably), and I hooked up a 1/2" ID hose to my shopvac and it came up empty. I also hooked the shop vac straight to the muffler side and it sucked air through the cat like there was nothing there. I also checked the muffler and tailpipe and those seem clear as well. Soooooo... maybe I didn't leave the shirt sleeve in there.. and maybe when I tried feeling for exhaust exiting the muffler earlier, I was expecting it to feel more like when I put my hand behind a motorcycle tailpipe. But, I have also searched the garage and all the trash and can't find that piece of shirt (driving me nuts not knowing for sure where it is). Darn it, I guess I'm going to reinstall it and try it out again. It's getting real old squirming around under there and contorting myself to take this thing in and out.

Post by **maybs** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:06 pm

Followup (cuz I know you are all waiting on the edge of your seats)... I think it was all a case of paranoia. Everything's fine... and I could have had my DD back yesterday. The first reason I thought I must have left the shirt in there was the funny-smelling smoke coming from around the manifold (so I obviously thought I still had an exhaust leak too). But it turns out that was PB blaster getting burned off the manifold. Oh well... better safe than burned up.

Post by **Billet Benny** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:12 am

I vote maybs's online conversation with himself and the hilarious experience detailed for our pleasure goes straight to the "Classics" forum.. haha..

I'm not so sure I'd have told the world this whole story
And if no exhaust was being allowed out, how did it keep running???

Post by **Steinberg** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:43 am

Scott, were you drinking bourban again? This reminds me of the old missing ring gear/unlocked hub story, another instant classic.

Post by **maybs** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:27 am

Glad you enjoy my misadventures... I was hoping it would at least be good for a chuckle or two. But, I was completely sober this time. Benny, I was too paranoid about screwing up the engine with a plugged exhaust to give a proper feel at the muffler. I stuck my hand under there for .5 seconds and didn't feel a strong flow like I was expecting so I ran to turn it off. After I put it all back together I actually covered the pipes with my hand and realized that it just doesn't blow real hard at idle.

YouTube · Post by **TerryD** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:29 am

maybs wrote:it just doesn't blow real hard at idle.

You can thank your muffler for that. On my 89 Cavalier, with the stock style muffler on it, you can stop the motor with your hand. I put a glass pack on it, and you couldn't get your hand to cover the entire tip. It'd blow your hand off of it.

Post by YJ » Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:07 pm

TerryD wrote:
maybs wrote:it just doesn't blow real hard at idle.
You can thank your muffler for that. On my 89 Cavalier, with the stock style muffler on it, you can stop the motor with your hand. I put a glass pack on it, and you couldn't get your hand to cover the entire tip. It'd blow your hand off of it.

Glass pack on an 89 Cavalier?

You really do need to be sportin' a mullet.

YouTube · Post by **TerryD** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:22 pm

YJ wrote:
TerryD wrote:
maybs wrote:it just doesn't blow real hard at idle.
You can thank your muffler for that. On my 89 Cavalier, with the stock style muffler on it, you can stop the motor with your hand. I put a glass pack on it, and you couldn't get your hand to cover the entire tip. It'd blow your hand off of it.

Glass pack on an 89 Cavalier?

You really do need to be sportin' a mullet.

It was straight piped

That rusted off and I figured I'd be more responsable and get a glass pack to quieten it down some. 3 years straight pieped, countless road checkes and passing cops. 3 months with a glass pack and a fucking $80 ticket to show for it. The cop wrote me for "improper equipment" and I beat it in court. If he'd have written it for noise, he'd have probably got me though!

Post by **Steinberg** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:31 pm

TerryD wrote:quieten

YouTube · Post by **TerryD** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:33 pm

Steinberg wrote:
TerryD wrote:quieten

its engrish....