Pulled the cat from my 3.2 Coupe

Ordered a Top Speed test pipe on Ebay and it came in 48 hours. Took me about 5 hours to Fit, a beautiful day here, 70 degrees. Great way to spend the afternoon. After removal I could see the sun through the old cat, probably original at 53000 miles. However I suspect there was some clogging/degradation in the cat as the car felt faster and more responsive with the TP. Louder too. It’s crazy to think people supercharge these - the car feels Fast enough for public roads.. .

The fumes are noticeable with windows down at stop lights. No problem when underwa. A think a high flow cat would be ideal.

 

Got pictures?

 

Driving without a cat will be noticeable in fume and responsiveness of the engine I think if you place a new cat you will want to take the fumes for granted to have more responsiveness.

I don't have a cat as it was not mandatory yet in Europe, but I some F friends removed theirs from their Mondial/348 and it only get placed again when it needs to go for MOT. I would stay without a cat and use the old one if it needs to go for inspection

 

Are you meaning photos of the cat? Or for a DIY? Unfortunately I did not stop to take photos. If you are are interested in a DIY I would be happy to give a few pointers while it is fresh in my mind. I could not resist shooting some video of a cold start with the exhaust removed. I’ll put that up on YouTube if you like.

 

I’m probably speaking for several people here but YES PLEASE (cold start vid).

Temple

 

Here is the cold start video:

 

Sounds more civilized then I would have thought

 

For those that may be interested, I have posted 2 videos below. The first is before installation of the test pipe. Completely stock Mondial 3.2. The second after installation of a Top Speed test pipe.

Note the recordings were made from the same position in the cabin using the same iPhone. So in theory this should give an objective before/after comparison.

Of course headphones recommended.

 

What you can’t see is a group of 8 kids standing behind the camera. They all jumped backwards at ignition. Pure evil. .

 

Sounds almost the same to me. Maybe I need to plug in to really listen. Either way it sounds awesome.


Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I agree. I had a good listen to both clips and cannot hear any difference. It is louder in person, perhaps 10% I would guess. Not sure why the phone does not pickup on it.

 

The amazingly, beautiful sounds of an “Italian tune-up!! The only thing missing is seeing the glee of the people hearing it!! Lol

Temple

 

That makes 3 of us. Hopefully w/ the earphones. Possibly phone audio recording is just not capable of “catching” the correct sound(s)?

Temple

 

Great sounds!

2cam

 

Makes me miss my coupe!

 

Well its been an interesting experiment, but I'm fairly sure I am going to put the stock cat back on. Its quite possible I'm personally a bit sensitive having owned some leaky cars in the past, but the fumes are killing me. I love the apparent response/power increase, but the extra noise is not much fun with a carbon-monoxide headache.

A couple of questions before I do though. First, how do you mostly European non-cat owners cope?? Is it possible the USA has different fuel? Or perhaps the non-cat cars have some other emission system/tuning that reduces the fumes? Does my cabin have any place where fumes might be drawn in? Perhaps I have a leak at the one of the cat flanges?

 

I cannot disagree with you on this point. Every time we step out of our ride, I have a coupe, you smell like an walking engine. Personally and also fellow F owners are used to it having had always classic cars, which usually have the same issue, but less.

Yes, there is an area where fumes are getting into you cabin. The side fenders are not closed of from the inside and this is where the fumes are getting into the cabin. If you look on either side after taking of the inner fender you can literally look all the way to the front. The worst non closed of section is the sides of the rear seats area behind the side panels. If you were to pull them off where the seatbelts role up you can look down into the sills. There you have it. Here gets the Ferrari DNA in your blood.

Funny enough I discussed this with some Fchat members attending an event. This winter I am planning to see if I can close off the sides from the engine compartment. I'm thinking of Aluminum panels with rubber sides, but that will not close of all since there are lying tubes that go to the front on either side. I am also thinking to use isolation foam in small layers to build up a wall so that it does not expand to everywhere. This is the best to close it of. One disadvantage is that the moisture that comes in from the rear side windows will dry less fast since as the only way out is where it got in and the warmth of the engine will be gone.

With a cab the fumes will also travel over the engine bonnet since cabs in general are not very aerodynamic. Having owned a few cabs a modern windshield behind the front seats will solve most of it.

There you have our secret. We are one with our rides and take the fumes for granted. not many complain btw, merely the people in your presence when you step out will smell it.

 

Interesting topic, the smelling of exhaust fumes. I have an '85 Mondial Cab and I have only been able to drive with the top up this summer. We have had a unusually hot, humid, and rainy summer in the northeast US. I don't take the car out in the rain regardless. I can go for a hour and a half long drive and I do not smell the fumes inside the car. I am very sensitive to smells and tastes, and for example I can't eat commercially-grown fruit such as apples because I can detect the pesticide when no one else in my family has a problem. Of course I smell the fumes when I walk around back while the Mondial is running, but that's normal. For comparison I also have a '71 Mustang Mach 1 429 CJ-R with Holley four barrel carb, and that car emits a lot of fumes when parked in the garage after a nice drive. I don't even walk into the house directly from the garage since that will let in the fumes. The wife will also slip in comments like I should change my clothes, etc. (not a car fan). This is normal to some degree with a carbureted car, since it is more of an open fuel delivery system when compared to fuel injection. In the old days (for me '70's and 80's) we didn't notice this because many US cars had a carb and related fumes after shutting down. Now we are used to fuel injection and completely closed systems with almost no smell. The other thing with my '71 Mustang is that from the factory it had a vapor canister under the hood to collect fuel vapor from the tank. That is no longer there after one of the prior owners performed a restoration, and I have to look someday to see what ever became of that hose. One final thought is that in the US we have gasoline with ethanol added, and in my opinion this fuel stinks compared to good old pure gasoline. I do not believe the ethanol gasoline is as widespread in Europe, although I could be wrong. It is everywhere here in the states. I have the Pure Gas app and I know where there are some stations selling E0 pure gasoline, but I have not gone there to fill up yet as it's not too convenient. IMO there should be a fuel pump at each station which allows you to dial in no ethanol or whatever percent you prefer, but that would be added expense when the majority of motorists have no idea or don't care one bit.

 

Cats tremendously take away a lot of smell. Euro Mondials smell more, no cat, no fuel line from the fuel accumulator back to the tank in case it fails. Unless you have a Swiss car or a T. The rest is plain old grease, oil and petrol.

In Europe E5 is mandatory for all fuels and they like to have E10 as a base.

 

What you need is an oil leak on an exhaust manifold. Now that smells good !

 

Do you have the cat installed? I only notice fumes when I am stationary, like at an intersection - with windows or sunroof open. I never noticed it before the test pipe.

 

Hmmm. You must own an old 911. Nothing like the smell of oil dripped on hot heat exchangers...

2cam

 

Hey Mark,

That's really unfortunate. Perhaps a hi-flo cat would be the solution?

2cam

 

One of the many appealing aspects of old cars is The Scent. I've poked my nose into the garage just for a whiff, especially for a few days after driving the Boxer, 400GT, or now-gone GTV.
One of my like-minded friends has the combination to my garage, and has done the same thing. He's even called to tell me that I need to take something out when I haven't in a while, because there wasn't any aroma.

It's just one part of the enjoyment for some of us. Revel in it, like most people cannot.

 

MvT, your comments about the openings behind the rear seats are very interesting. According to this site: https://www.abe.iastate.edu/extension-and-outreach/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-vehicles-aen-208/

"When a vehicle is moving, holes or openings in the rear of the vehicle are under a suction which pulls in exhaust fumes":

This effect could explain my headache after 30 minutes drives, and the fact that my kids got very sleepy on the drive to the car show this weekend 8-(. The "vacuum effect" while on a prolonged drive may be worse than brief and intense exposures at intersections with the windows open. Carbon monoxide is odorless and dangerous.

For those who may be interested, there are two obvious options to address this issue if you want to improve exhaust flow, without poisoning yourself or others:

1. The DIY option: A 200 cell universal Magnaflow would seem to be a good compromise, and inexpensive ($115):

https://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-59905-Universal-Catalytic-Converter/dp/B000XQO2EG

I understand the stock cat on mine is 400 cell, so the 200 Magnaflow would flow better, while still doing the job.

Getting a muffler shop to weld on some flanges and a port for the O2 sensor would also be relatively inexpensive (perhaps $200-300).

2. Nick's has a Hyperflow cat ready to fit for $769, so another good option (perhaps more economic for the single-cat cars):

http://www.nicksforzaferrari.com/forzaferrariwebsite1_046.htm