Went with a Walker brand catalytic converter which looks fine. Getting the old one out wasn't half bad... The bolts at the Y-pipe came right out with no drama. Wish I could say the same for the apparently pressed in studs at the muffler end which sheared off despite being PB Blasted and using the standard 3/8" ratchet and not the 1/2" Archimedes special. I got sloppy after the front went so well and then rage talked me into snapping the other 2 thinking I could just drill them out real quick since they snapped like twigs. I was wrong! I didn't make much headway with the Cobalt steel bits which should have sliced through like warm butter. No joy trying to push them out with a c-clamp and socket which is my go-to for snapped wheel studs in the past. The 'smart' thing to do would be to just replace the muffler but my stubbornness would rather waste days sweating in a metal building bent backwards under a 2 post lift that lifts it, but doesn't quite lift it more than just under 5' off the floor (it too is on the list of 'needs look at by a professional'). What is everyone's thoughts on grabbing a HF air hammer and cheap chisel/drifts to try and drift the pressed in studs out? I have a MAPP gas torch but not an oxy/acetalyn rig so if I need to drop the muffler and heat the flange (even I won't throw a torch around with the gas tank RIGHT THERE) to make the air hammer option work, Im okay with that.

 

Air hammer WAS the answer. Quick tip/trick for anyone else that finds themselves faces with driving out the presses in studs in the muffler, holding a flanged nut with a pair of vice grips over the stud makes driving it out MUCH easier without adding a bunch of divets into the flange. Cost for the last $15 HF medium barrel plus punches and oil roughly $75 which is better (to me, since I now have reusable tools) than just replacing the muffler.