i would wear a respirator while you do this i have heard the "insulator"
fibrous material is a carcinogen.  that said take the cat off and run a
rod through it until you have all the material out.  its mostly ceramic so
it breaks up pretty easily.

jonathan

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004, Shawn Luft wrote:

> Tom,
>
> I'd like clean out my cat for testing purposes.  What's the best way to
> hollow it out ?
>
> Thanks !
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Young" <tomyoung1@comcast.net>
> To: "Shawn Luft" <shawnagan@SYMPATICO.CA>; <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 10:44 PM
> Subject: Re: Catalytic Converter Clogged ?
>
>
> > Classic symptoms of a broken catalytic converter.  It'll only get worse
> over
> > time.  Either replace the catalytic converter or try to knock the
> honeycomb
> > interior of the catalytic converter out.
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> > Tom Young                       '81 Vanagon
> > Lafayette, CA 94549         '82 Westfalia
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Shawn Luft" <shawnagan@SYMPATICO.CA>
> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 7:32 PM
> > Subject: Catalytic Converter Clogged ?
> >
> >
> > Hello
> >
> > I suspect my catalytic converter is blocked up because of the following
> > symptoms :
> >
> > (1) the van recently blew a hole through the "j" elbow pipe just prior to
> > the catalytic converter
> >
> > (2) something is making a rattling noise inside the catalytic converter
> >
> > (3) i replaced elbow pipe but seem to have air escaping between the gasket
> > of the catalytic converter and the new pipe.
> >
> > (4) van works ok but since replacing the elbow pipe the van seems to have
> a
> > 20% loss in power.
> >
> >
> > Is it possible the cat is clogged, and caused the elbow pipe to blow a
> hole
> > (for air to escape) ??
> >
> > Is it possible that the new pipe has no hole, so pressure is collecting
> > again inside a bad cat and causing the loss of power?
> >
> > We are leaving for holidays on Friday and I want to everything as great as
> > possible.
> >
> > Any comments are much appreciated.
> >
> > Thx
> > Shawn
> >
>