I thought this might be a fun/interesting thread for the car recyclers and core buyers among us. We all know the converters that we always love to see. An exotic import cat, a center-O2 newer Straight Edge or a nice big X-Body GM from a Cadillac will always bring a smile, but... How about the "uglies"? I have a number of groan-inducing converters that I'm never too happy to see. I'll list the ones that come to mind for me, and would be interested to know which ones make you guys grumble.
- Of course, anything empty or aftermarket. This one is pretty obvious.
- Junk diesels: Big, heavy, dirty and almost worthless anymore. Refiners hate these things with a passion.
- 746 Straight Edge: 746A or 746M. These are on earlier-model Neons. They look just like a regular 10-line Straight, but a little smaller. They're only worth about $35-40! Really easy to lose money on if you're not careful, and still pretty commonly encountered. These are probably my single most despised OEM converter.
- Small brick Ford Crown Vic: These look like a Small Domestic, until you check both ends with a stick. There is only a small brick of material in the middle, the rest is empty from the factory. To make it worse, the little bit of material that IS in there is very low-grade. These converters are worth less than $20 each.
- Angle-neck Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable: These are graded by number, but 90%+ are the bad ones. The "good" number is worth a Small Domestic, but the bad ones barely break Low-Grade Domestic as far as value. These cars have high-grade pre-cats on both manifolds, and that's where all the money is. These angled-neck "main" converters are actually just a junk secondary cat. They DO look like they should be a Small Domestic. Also, they often come with only a half brick...then, they're almost not even worth buying!
So, what are your least favorite converters?
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