JHedrick

Good evening! I am wondering if my motor is safe. I have a 97 Cobra with a Vortech V1 (no intercooler). Steeda did the original work in 98, but I had to rebuild because I burned a ring shortly after Steeda did their thing. I am now pushing about 16lbs of boost with Bassani high flow cat X-pipe, and stock headers. Motor is built with forged lower end now. I got a new tune when I upgraded to 8-rib pullies, 10% oversize flywheel, and Snow alcohol injection. I recently popped the cats on the original midpipe (from 98) and have just gotten a new Bassani pipe of the same model. Pipe kit came with cat delete pipes. My question is, were I to use the delete pipes instead of the cats, would I need a new tune to account for the better air flow? We have no vehicle inspection here. I realize that boost is a function of back-pressure due to restriction, which would be less with no cats. I don't really understand the finer points of "tuning". I get the basics of air:fuel but it doesn't go further than that. My tune (Diablo chip) is pretty conservative now. I only have about 450 rwhp, but still have my original clutch. I would like to upgrade to 60# injectors and make a beast, but that is for another time. Thanks for your input, in advance.

Buck Sergeant

JHedrick, this probably doesn't answer your specific question, but, my standing philosophy is to get a "real deal" dyno tune after any engine modifications are made. I would also tell your dyno man that a Diablo Chip is also installed. Also, it's not a bad idea to contact Diable and ask their opinion on how any modifications might affect their tune.

JHedrick

Thank you for your input. I went ahead and put the cats on. Car runs better than it has for quite awhile. I found a big chunk of honeycomb wedged against the downstream O2 sensor on the Bank 2 side. It was quite the clog! Car growls the exact way it did before my issues started. Other than having the round cat cans now (the older model had the OEM similar, flat ones), Bassani has apparently not changed anything on part 46973 since 98.

Buck Sergeant

JHedrick, great news. Isn't it a good feeling when a issue is resolved.