Hello,
I recently bought my first vehicle, a 95 4runner. I had it parked at work and a tweaker stole my catalytic converter off the truck. I am in college and spent almost all my money on the Runner and was hoping someone could point me the right direction to repair it myself. Is it possible to replace just the catalytic converter or the whole exhaust. I have seen a couple youtube videos and all of them end up welding a whole new exhaust in place I currently dont have the ability to weld. Are there any kits out there that may avoid this? I tried talking with AutoZone and Napa and they tried to sell me on a $700 kit i have seen cheaper ones online but wonder about their quality. I attached pictures of what was left. Sorry for the noob questions, any help would be amazing.

 

I dont think there are any high temp strength (+2000 deg F) bonding agents out there to securely hold up a retrofitted cat with piping. Looks like a sawed off or flame cut stealer's touch. What an a-hole. I would put in new exhaust up to the crossover junction. Dont know on prices on aftermarket ones. Better than dealer price though. Hand tools can make it happen. Other option is finding a trustworthy repair shop that can weld a new one in. Hopefully not the ones who stole it.

Maybe where you live, emissions arent required...95 is cutting close to antique where I'm at...be a couple yrs to 25 yrs old for a 96 honda I got.

 

Uh, sorry mantraN, That may work in Washington, but no longer in California.

For almost forever, ski areas gave greatly discounted prices to "Seniors." I turn 65 in December, and this year most ski areas did away with any Senior perk. Sigh ....

My truck turned 25-yrs old in August, and I STILL got a trip to Smog Check. When CARB came up with smog testing in the '90s, they had to develop fair, uniform, and enforceable standards that would apply to "every" car. It turned out that 1975 and older vehicles were very disparate (making it hard to come up with standards), and there weren't that many of them around anyway. So they just got exempted. And until April of 2005, there was a complicated 30-year rolling exemption, so that a 1976 vehicle would become exempted in 2006. But why? The standards had been worked out, and whatever 30-yr old vehicles were still around had met those standards for many years. So the rule was changed; pre-1976 remain exempted, but everyone else is in the same boat. Smog check every two years (if you live in the right regions). https://www.smogtips.com/need_inspection.cfm When you come back to CA, your Honda is going to be checked every two years (and if you live where I do, you would have to take that age vehicle to a "Star" test station. They have the same equipment, but are basically considered "incorruptible" by the DMV!)

The good news is that Catalytic Converters (and EGR systems, etc.) are VERY effective at reducing pollution. (E.g,, you can pass the NOx test if you emit no more than 550ppm. Yet the average (passing) vehicle emits only 53ppm! My 25-yr old truck emitted only 4ppm.) Even if my vehicle was exempted, I would maintain all of that equipment. I breathe that air. And I'm glad that the law requires everyone else to do the same.

So I hope zacconk gets his converter replaced. There are cable "shields" you can get to protect the converter from those hanging around his work. (It looks to me like nothing more than a reciprocating saw was used.)

 

Yeah, I recommended replacement. Not sure where the OP lives. Pretty sure Cali that antique clause means nothing. False hope, oh no what have I done!

I do agree, even if exempt, be better for sake of fresh air.

 

You can buy converters that either have to welded in, or that are an exact fit that can be bolted in. Exact fit is not going to work for that, so have a new cat welded. You can bring your own cat, and just have the shop install it. Converters that need to be welded for installation are usually cheaper to buy than exact fit, at least it was for my 92 pickup.

That was probably the original converter that got stolen, and it has more precious metal than aftermarket. I replaced the original cat on my 92 last year because it was not working, and sold it for $60 to a local scrap yard. New exact fit Eastern Catalytic converter cost me about $95, but it's not going to last as long as a factory converter.

 

A chance to learn to weld. They will probably let you weld it up in class too.