About a month ago there was some discussion about plugged converters.
A week or two ago I noticed a "tink, tink, tink" noise when my van was idling.  I suspected the converter but the van was running fine so I put the repair on the "to do list".  A few days later I noticed a change in the exhaust sound and a slight loss of power at full throttle.  The van still idled fine and ran well at part throttle.  After I dropped my wife off at work on Wednesday the loose pieces must have almost completely plugged the exhaust and left me with almost no power, luckily the piece moved again and I was able to continue.  When I got home I removed the converter which still appears to be in very good condition (solid metal with no rust).  I was able to knock out what was left of the catalyst (There was only enough to fill a 2 lb. margarine tub.)  I put the now hollow converter back on and every thing is now fine.
I will order a new converter from CIP and fix the problem properly.
For what it is worth this repair could have been done in a parking lot with a couple of 13 mm wrenches and a breaker bar.  I keep a couple of exhaust gaskets in my tool box.
I do have a questions.  How much catalyst is there in a new converter?  Is the metal housing full?  If a new converter is full where did all the old catalyst go?  Out the exhaust?  Will a new converter last 22 years like the old one did?
George,
'85 Westfalia