heres the cat painted. ive heard that recyclers wont take painted cats. i dont really believe it but i thought i would try anyway.

i purchased my cat from AZ Autohaus, supposedly there OEM. it bolted right up and appears clean like the OE. there retail list price is the same price toyota wanted. purchased it for 250.00 delivered. cant beat that!

 

This thread motivated me to finally take an old one to a recycler today - "old" as in off my first Tacoma that I'd had laying around for a year and a half. I just never bothered doing anything with it. I specifically asked about this. After asking what a bright orange painted cat would tell him, he twisted his face around in confusion, then said, "That somebody had painted it." This idea seemed completely foreign to him. "He / him" being the guy running the recycling shop and handing me the cash.

More than killing a potential deal at the recycler, maybe it would in some way serve as a deterrent to a would-be cat thief, confusing them a bit. I might be checking out the cat clamp.

 

as hot as the cat gets, is painting it a good idea...or bad idea? does it matter?

 

the spray paint i used was for headers and takes extreme heat. its not noticeable until you look under the vehicle. the cat clamp is probably the way to go but ill try anything to prevent this from happening.

 

I have built a few cages around them for a few people. Cages are welded on, but they are not going to stops and cut all that off and then cut the cat off, they will just go to the next one. One lady lost two, my cage seems to be letting her keep the third.