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I live in NJ too (Exit 9 ha-ha-ha!!!) and in 2001, my 1987 Volvo which then had about 175K miles barely passed NJ emmissions after a complete tune-up ... the inspector gave me a dirty look, but I was happy that it passed!!! Even though my car barely passed the stringent NJ emmisions, it ran very well.
To make a long story short, I had temporarily taken my Volvo off the road, but in 2004, I decided to put it back on the road ... she fired right-up after sitting for several years in my driveway. It smoked a little, but after 15 minutes or so, it ran just like it did before I took it off the road.
Because it was now 2004, I had to have it re-inspected, so I changed the oil and did a complete tune-up. But this time around, after three attempts, I just could not get it through inspection. So now I was faced with a decision of trying either a new o2 sensor or a catalytic convertor, both of which are theorectically designed to last the "life of the vehicle," which now had about 205K miles.
I decided to replace the catalytic convertor. Immediately after replacing the convertor, I drove to the inspection station, and IT PASSED with flying colors ... the emmission levels were so low that the machine barely registered any harmful emmissions. I was extremely happy!!!
I bought the catalytic convertor off of eBay for about $100 and it bolted right on. It is an "ultrafit" brand, but I had to buy a flange gasket separately.
Just another thing I'd like to mention. When removing the old original catalytic convertor, I had to break a factory weld joint at the flange using hammer and chisel. If you do this, wear goggles and when using a hammer & chisel, be careful not to disturb the front header pipe too much (i.e., keep it from moving) as you may cause a leak at the exhaust manifold, or worse yet, you may break the flange on the header pipe. Just don't bang too hard!!!
Good Luck!!!
AlexB
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