Finally got around to that too.

The truck would not turn more than 4000 RPMs. I had a sneaky suspicion the throttle was not opening all the way. Or the cat had finally failed by becoming stopped up. I'm waiting for an old work associate to finish his shop for the electric fuel pump fantasy to play out. I said to myself "might as well get this cat thing done while I'm waiting for him. Plus I thought that was the reason the thing was so sluggish. I mean it wouldn't pull a sick whore off a piss pot.

Talked to the manager of the tire store that does my state inspections (the truck is old enough to be emissions exempt in my state). He says "go see this guy- he'll hook you up"... By federal law the muffler shop in question could not remove it. But he could do the next best thing- make it a piece of cake to remove it myself. Of course, he made a "test pipe" for me. They cut the existing pipe and cat off, but made flanges on the pipe and old cat so I can change it out myself with 4 bolts. Best of both worlds- if I ever have to put it back on for whatever reason (for example a real dick head failing it for that reason.) (Even though it is 'emissions exempt', the emissions components still have to be on the vehicle, whether they work or not. That makes sense, now don't it? *rolls eyes*.

To make a long story short, the cat was not stopped up! This truck never ceases to amaze me. It still has the original A/C compressor, ball joints, drive shaft center support, condenser, coil, wheel bearings...FUEL PUMP...etc. etc.

The original parts on this thing just belie the fact that the MSRP on the truck was $12,000 and will last as long or longer than any high line Euro import at a fraction of the cost.

So if I ever need one, I won't have to buy one. 345,000 miles later and the original part can reused if needed. Hehe...

Seat of the pants? It like the truck got a shot of adrenalin. I can actually accelerate past folks. LOL

Hindsight is 20/20 as a MFer, but just like the Weber install, the original parts last so long, I can be excused for waiting so long to do it because the parts you are replacing are still operating just fine and dandy.

That seems to be the truck in a nutshell.