Thread: Catalytic Converter Theft

Okay, this is a new one on me. But apparently they are not only being stolen, but there is a theft deterrent device available.

American Welding, Inc.

They will be **** out of luck if they try to steal the cat out of my car... what cat?

:-)

Yeah the theft of cats here in St. Louis has always been a major problem at most of the local malls in the surrounding area. From the looks of it, it centers around cars with some kinda lift to them so that the theives and get under the vehicle and boost the cat from it.

Personally I think the best deterrant is the one from the first RoboCop movie. Where the kid is trying to steal the old Ford Probe and once in the drivers seat he tries to jimmy the steering column and those two metal bands wrap around him and electrocute him to death. And then you see the announcer for the commerical approach the car and pulls out the charred body and simply drives off.

That is how justice should be served.

Evil yes, inhumane maybe.....but does it stop the theif from ever doing it again? HELL YEAH!!

They had a prob at Woodfield mall out buy me, like 400 were stolen from SUVs' over a period of a few months

that was a hot topic here in town this past year. I think the total number of car were like 50 or so. all the cats unbolted, or cut off. this hapned witin a few weeks. that is the first mod I do to a car..take the Cat off. I was half tempted to just set it ontop of a car that way they haul it away. I know they are worth big money..but I dont care. I think I have 2 or 3 still in my garage somewhere.

I took the cat off of my sons 99 GTP and got $60 for it from the scrap yard. I was stunned at how much they were worth.

Hmm shards of metal attached to the top side of the cat...surprise surprise

I remember, back when cats first started showing up on cars in mass, there were recyclers showing up too and I believe there is platinum used in them and they were recycling that along with the metal. I dont know if that is still true, but if the recyclers are still out there Id be interested in knowing what they get for each of those things.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

I remember, back when cats first started showing up on cars in mass, there were recyclers showing up too and I believe there is platinum used in them and they were recycling that along with the metal. I dont know if that is still true, but if the recyclers are still out there Id be interested in knowing what they get for each of those things.

When the recycler took ours, he took a metal rod, poked it on the inside to to make sure it was still in good shape, and handed me $60 cash.

Originally Posted by GTPluv

Guess tonight I'm gonna start jacking cats. The taller the easier huh?
My crackhead neighbors have a bunch of cars

You know, I saw a beautiful 18V cordless saws all the other day and I bet that would come in handy. A couple spare batteries and blades and I bet you could knock out 10 - 15 or so before you had to go home.

"Due to the exterior location and the use of valuable precious metals including platinum, palladium, and rhodium, converters are a target for thieves. The problem is especially common among late-model Toyota trucks and SUVs, due to their high ground clearance and easily-removed bolt-on catalytic converters. Welded-in converters are also at risk of theft from SUVs and trucks, as they can be easily removed with a battery powered reciprocating saw. The saw removal of the converter can often inadvertently damage the car’s wiring or fuel line resulting in dangerous consequences. Rises in metal costs inside the United States during recent years have lead to a large increase in theft incidents of the converter, encouraged in part by a resale price for converters that approaches two hundred dollars." - Catalytic converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ed has my old cats and sold my high flow. My car is strictly "offroad" use now. Um yeah that's it really.

what mama doesnt know......wont hurt her....

Originally Posted by 19SE92

There was a theft ring busted here in florida not to long ago for the same thing. There is some kind of metal inside the cat that is so valueable

It's the platnium inside of them.