time for a new cat

[jw 325ic]

so my cat got clogged up i guess and caused my downpipes to bust because of too much back pressure. so i've had a loud exhaust leak and inspection is coming up.

i was looking at rock auto and they say they have a cheaper cat for the m20 but its for an automatic....i thought the exhaust was the same on all m20 e30s...can anyone confirm or correct this for me? thanks!

[MR 325]

The only difference is the tab on the exhaust where it mounts to the trans. Almost every E30 I see does not have the trans exhaust mount connect anyway. No big deal.

[jw 325ic]

hmm...i've always kept mine connected there...i'm sure a muffler shop could cut the tab off my old cat and weld it to the auto cat right? does seem like it would be too hard. but that is the only difference? no different curves or anything? they look similar in the pics
auto:

manual:


obviously at different angles, but the auto one looks like it has a shorter pipe connecting to the muffler. anyways, thanks for the help!