So? Where and when did the EPA fine someone for removing a functional cat to replace it with another functional, legal cat, outside of some super-strict state enforcement regime like Cali?

It's all over nasioc. Guys get fined for moving to hf catted downpipes regularly. My friend got a 10k fine for his dp.

I also don't know of a single EPA fine handed out in cali. It's usually the rest of the country where we get them.

I've tried searching around there, but I haven't really turned up anything yet, have a link? Mostly I see their FAQ stuff, which again seems to say you're generally fine so long as you don't go cat-less. It was interesting to see some guys there noticing that Utah is getting as bad as Cali on inspections now.

Correct. There's always the option of saying "Well, Mr. EPA... Prove that my emissions equipment WASN'T defective. Oh, of course I don't still have it. I told the shop to recycle it."

The chances of an end user being hassled by the EPA over HFCs is so low it's pretty much never going to happen. The EPA hassling shops that are removing fully functioning emissions equipment is much more likely.

Back on topic... If the OP is in TX, just hit up a sketchy exhaust shop. You can usually find them in the same areas that have the used tire shops run by Mexicans.

^^^^hahah how long have you lived in Texas!!!???? thats right on the money. :D

Yeah, pretty much true. The EPA offers to drop your fine if you rat out the shop that did the install....again, the reason most shops won't bother.

We're in AZ, but I lived in Austin for a bit.

Typical US government. "Tell on someone doing worse stuff than you, and we'll forget this ever happened."

To give you an idea of how low the standards actually are in Texas, I took my STI to a shop with absolutely no emissions equipment left on my car and nearly passed. The guy was shocked when I told him. I did it just as an experiment. If I had my laptop I probably could have tuned it to pass without any cats or otherwise.

Nearly passed? So what you mean to say is that you failed inspection...

:rofl2:

I had my HFC's and exhaust installed at the same time. Was $300 and change...

Edit: Just realized this thread is a week or so old. Did you get them on??

not yet but soon!!!

You clearly missed the point, which is, as I stated, that the actual emissions standards (e.g. sniffer standards) are incredibly low. The fact that I nearly passed with no emissions equipment supports that proposition.

Op here.... Just wanted to give an update, I'm taking my car to the bodyshop on Monday to have a few corrections made after my accident. The tech said he would do it for $100 as a "cash sale". Not a bad deal and it's done by Nissan. Probably won't go on the books since the tech is just trying to male some extra $$

That's a "side job." Probably the best way to do it.

just got my car back with the Berk HFC and y-pipe installed and all i can say is HOLY RASP BATMAN!

I was hoping for more of a deeper tone. Do these take some time to break in? Also it smells like burnt ceramic, will this dissapate over time?

it definately feels faster or (maybe i was just getting used to the altima)

Smell will go away. Rasp is likely due to the y pipe.

Damn. Why would the y pipe create soo much rasp?

Which y pipe do you have?

this^^ moron shops

The $140 eBay one. I don't remember the name of the manufacture but it started with a s

I think it was sure win. Not sure what I should do? Maybe the hcc will break in, right now it sounds a bit ricey.