Friends '97 Blazer has a clogged cat.

The cost of the Universal fit for this year car is substantially less the Direct fit. Can someone tell me If these Universal units are made with the Correct Diameter pipe so they slide over and into the existing Pipes after the Flanges are cut off?

Or
Do you have to buy the adapter Unions to do the Install?

 

depends on the cat. some come with clamps, other's are weld on.

 

I bought a universal cat to replace the gutted one in our 95 a couple of years back. The guy just cut out the old one and welded in the univeral. I think it took about 20 minutes.

 

Did the guy have to Butt weld it? Did he slide the cat over the old pipes and weld? Did he weld the old flange on the new Cat?

 

i dunno what "flange" you mean, but when i got my cat replaced (from stock to hi-flow)
it was a simple matter of dropping it in a spreader, widening out the inlet, slipping it over the exhisting pipe, and welding it up. Same for the otherside.

if you plan to do it yourself, you can get an exhaust pipe diameter tool (for stretching) from harbor freight for less than $20, use it on what you need, and return it.

 

I replaced my cat with a universal I bought off a muffler guy. I took my old one to hi, and he just measured the total length, cut off the flange on mine and welded it on the new one. I took it back and installed it and passed the emissions test (it had failed) the next morning. Cost me $100.00 for everything he did including the cat and the welding. I did put a new clamp on the front. $2.00(?) If you can find someone to do something like this for you it's pretty much like bolting on a direct fit replacement.