Catalytic converters for 70's cars?

Hi. I'm just visiting, being a 76 Cadillac owner instead of Olds---but I
wondered if the big Oldsmobiles in 76 used the same converter as Cadillac. They
call it a "pancake" style, I guess because of its large, oval, flat shape. I
got a "re-built" one and it only lasted a couple of weeks. Most of the
"re-builts" seem to be in pretty bad shape. Yet the aftermarket units are
totally different, much smaller, making me wonder if they would be noisy or
affect performance. If anyone has any information or suggestions on this it
would be appreciated.

B. Halter
Lansing, MI (Home of Oldsmobile, it's founder R.E. Olds, the Reo car and truck
company and the Olds Museum)

As long as the cat works, use it. The replacement ones in aftermarket are
better than the original for reducing emmissions which is what they are for.
Since they are in line before the muffler you should not notice any real
change in noise other than tone.

If after only a couple of weeks the rebuilt failed I would take it back and
have it replaced under warranty if it had one. Rebuilts should be
warrantied for several thousand miles or months.

I hope this helps.

RAD in California
"Halterb" wrote in message

 > Hi. I'm just visiting, being a 76 Cadillac owner instead of Olds---but I
 > wondered if the big Oldsmobiles in 76 used the same converter as Cadillac.
They
 > call it a "pancake" style, I guess because of its large, oval, flat shape.
I
 > got a "re-built" one and it only lasted a couple of weeks. Most of the
 > "re-builts" seem to be in pretty bad shape. Yet the aftermarket units are
 > totally different, much smaller, making me wonder if they would be noisy
or
 > affect performance. If anyone has any information or suggestions on this
it
 > would be appreciated.
 >
 > B. Halter
 > Lansing, MI (Home of Oldsmobile, it's founder R.E. Olds, the Reo car and
truck
 > company and the Olds Museum)