Hi, my catalytic converter on my 97 a4 1.8tqm finally separated from the flange by the turbo, like i've seen so many others have too! I was searching for an answer but couldn't really find what i was looking for, anyways I was just wondering if its going to damage my car to drive it like this for a few days until my test pipe comes in? and if anyone had any temporary solutions until then? I bought 2 clamps & i'm going to try to put them around the cat and the turbo side of the flange and wire them together, but if anyone knows a better temp solution I'd be very interested in hearing it. Thank you for your time, Nick

 

I don't suppose you could tack weld it in place for a couple of days.

Fortunately, I have a buddy who has multiple vehicles, so he let me borrow one for a few days until my high-flow cat came in.

 

That was my thought, but i'm having trouble finding someone to do it, I'm supposed to drive down state, around 80 miles tonight, and I'm pretty sure i know someone who would do it there but I just wanted to see if it could be driven that far, i'm still working on my clamp rig, we'll see how that goes.

 

Is there a muffler shop nearby that could do it for you?

Perhaps a machine shop? Body shop? School with an mechanics class???

 

yeah, everyone i've talked to wont because of legal issues with welding catalytic converters so i'm looking for a shady place to just throw a few welds on in the time being.

 

That sucks man...Hope your rigging gets you by for a few days.

 

the rigging didn't work to well, its a little better, but still bad. anyone Know if its going to harm my car to drive it? correct me if i'm wrong but don't turbo cars not need much more back-pressure other than the turbo itself?

 

http://www.labreemotorsports.com/

Nothing but good service, good people, and a very nice looking product. They offer a high flow cat for A4 on sale for $250. I just received mine and I'm waiting for the cold rain to let up so I can install it. OEM cat is almost $800 + core charge from the dealer; the Labree HFC is a steal, even if you see no benefits from it with a stock 1.8T.

If you can find someone to weld it, go for it. If it has over 100K on the original cat, you might be better off just replacing it.

 

Hey Tweaked....

That's the HFC that I got! Brent is great! His work is a true art. I love the new cat. It allows the turbo to spool faster for sure...not to mention it looks cool.

 

It definitely looks slick. No matter what, I'll feel gains when I finally swap out my original, clogged cat that is rattling like crazy!