Another question...

What's the experience on the expected life of a cat on the WC Vanagons?

I failed emissions with an 89 Carat (NJ) after the PO had passed in January.
There are a number of things I will now change as the vehicle has now been
"rejected".

I didn't want to "disturb" it since it had passed six months ago
(allegedly...the sticker was there). But now I'll do the rotor, distributor
cap, spark plugs, etc. I hadn't changed the oil before the inspection and
maybe that put it over the edge (CO and HC, I'm not sure of how far out I am,
I can't read those punced out cards properly).

In the spirit of the "Maintenance Philosophy" thread in recent days, I was
wondering if I shouldn't just replace the cat and O2 sensor since I'm going to
laying under it anyway. ( It also has a Midas muffler on it which I would like
to replace with OEM), as a way of eliminating them as variables in the
future... I happen to have the cash for it now and it's not winter...

Opinions?

As an aside, has anyone heard about that NJ 1722 (or was it 1720 or 1772?)
bill regarding emissions? I remember a big flack a couple of years ago about
it being designed to remove older vehicles from the road through stricter
emissions.

I haven't heard anything recently... Am I living under a tyranny and not aware
of it?

Paul
89 Carat 144K