Loud forced air noise?

[SkyHighColorado]

Hey all, yet another issue. 94 tbi 5.7 294,*** miles.
So Yesterday I noticed a loss in power and and increase in exhaust sound. It just feels like its lacking power and bogging a little especially a higher speeds and accelerating, after changing to 2nd it bogs pretty bad for a few seconds or until i give it more gas. In the cab all I can hear is the noise or air being forced through something and it gets louder with more gas and higher speeds.
My cat back got beat up so i cut it off a long time ago. My current set up is just stock manifolds, stock y pipe to cat, then about a foot of pipe and the rest was cut off. The cat is original and was rattling a lot a while back but I just ignored it. I think it may have just blown up inside now and its all clogged up.

Who all thinks it is my cat? my motor sounds fine when i rev it while under the hood.

so assuming it is my cat, then i want to just cut it off but there is an o2 sensor right where i wanna cut it. How would you go about dealing with the sensor and cutting the cat off? or should i just unbolt to y pipe and run open headers???

Need to do something quick because I drive up mountains and no power is killin me!

forgot to mention I replaced my fuel filter 2 weeks ago w/ delco. full tank.

 

[GMstrong]

why not just gut the cat?Probably is the cat though.

 

[John Deere 4240]

why not just gut the cat?Probably is the cat though.

X2...take an air chisel or some thing to break it up then use a shop vac to suck out the platinum stuff. The dust will all just blow out eventually

 

[96Z71ECSB]

It is, more than likely, the cat. Cut it off where ever you can without messing with the O2 sensor and test drive.
A competent muffler shop can install a new cat despite where the pipe is cut.
Of course, I'm assuming you actually live in Denver which is an emissions area.
Today might not be a good day to do it though (snow storm).

 

[SkyHighColorado]

It was my cat. All the honey comb stuff inside had blown into the piping and clogged it up. I ended up just gutting the cat, it sounds crazy now. But wow what a performance difference. My truck is registered in clear creek county up in the mountains so F you emissions! It does live in denver though haha. you got emissions in Evans?

 

[94Sierra4x4]

You'd probably gain some low end back if you add some more pipe
and quiet it down a lot lol

 

[96Z71ECSB]

Yep. We didn't have emissions until a few years ago.
My truck was tested last year for the first time in it's life.
Passed just fine. Of course, it limits me on what I can do with my truck.
I may get a PO box in the town of Orchard (Morgan County) because they are out of the emissions area.
I have some friends out there.

 

[SkyHighColorado]

Yeah I am looking at some catbacks right now. I may just go talk to a muffler shop that does mandrel bending and have one made. I want it to exit in front of the rear wheel with a big tip.

You'd probably gain some low end back if you add some more pipe
and quiet it down a lot lol