I can't speak for any other state, but a lack of a cat will give you the big fat emissions FAIL for most counties in PA. For OBDII vehicles they do hook it up to the machine and record everything - and this data is sent to the State for records and evaluation by the machine. Hello Big Brother.
Older vehicles they use the tailpipe sniffer, but they can use it on newer models if they think something is goofy. My Saab 9000 failed every year with all of the fuel and boost mods I had on it.
But, and this is key, they do perform a visual inspection to ensure all of the parts are there - gas cap, evap stuff, and yes, a cat converter. You might be able to get away with hogging out the guts of the cat if your emissions inspection is pretty soft, but I wouldn't even bother. Get a $99 performance cat and be done with it (or used perhaps as mentioned). You could weld an O2 bung just about anywhere.
Thankfully there are exemptions if your vehicle has driven less than 5,000 miles since last inspection. Comes in handy sometimes.
Older vehicles they use the tailpipe sniffer, but they can use it on newer models if they think something is goofy. My Saab 9000 failed every year with all of the fuel and boost mods I had on it.
But, and this is key, they do perform a visual inspection to ensure all of the parts are there - gas cap, evap stuff, and yes, a cat converter. You might be able to get away with hogging out the guts of the cat if your emissions inspection is pretty soft, but I wouldn't even bother. Get a $99 performance cat and be done with it (or used perhaps as mentioned). You could weld an O2 bung just about anywhere.
Thankfully there are exemptions if your vehicle has driven less than 5,000 miles since last inspection. Comes in handy sometimes.
