Alignment Shop Damaged Catalytic Converter, Advice?

[RCM3]

Probably not the most ideal location for this thread, but I was really hoping for some solid advice.

Quick background: I took my 1988 325iS to Wheel Woks in San Jose, CA (the one on Winfield and Blossom Hill). The balanced my wheels and aligned the car. When I got the car back I noticed something hanging underneath, and heard it when they drove the car up. The scraped the lower cover off the catalytic converter, completely mangled it. I tell the tech driving the car out to me, and he grabs a manager and we stick it on the lift. In the air, one guy rips the thing off, sending all the insulating material flying, and leaving the top cover just to float around and rattle on top of the cat. They offered to pay the shop next door to re-weld the salvageable top cover, but they quickly removed the other pieces and never mentioned them. I had the manager document the issue, and I left with the car (hopefully that doesn't come back to haunt me, as in Im on the hook now since I took the car home but they were closing).

My question is, how crucial are those covers on the cat? Does it help the cat get to proper operating temp? Or is it just a safety heat shield? Im sure it was already skinned up a bit from speed bumps over the years, but now its completely missing and I want the car taken care of properly. Again, the top one is still present and can be re-welded by the exhaust shop next door.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[kronus]

the cat heatshield should be between the cat and the body. if yours was below the cat, it was installed wrong in the first place.

[Cletonius]

Post a pic. My cat is only shielded by the bolt in covers that hide the driveshaft. Nothing between it and the road.

[SedanSandwich]

The heat shield helps protect the cat from minor impacts with rocks/other debris and they also protect equipment close to the cats from being damaged by the heat of the catalytic converter. If I were in your situation I would want the shop to get it back into the condition it was in before the damage. Make sure the ceramic/other interior components of the cat are not broken. They are very fragile.

[RCM3]

the cat heatshield should be between the cat and the body. if yours was below the cat, it was installed wrong in the first place.

I know the shielding youre referring to, the shielding I mean is part of the actual catalytic converter. How I understood it after the damage was that the cat itself has two layers of steel, with insulation in between. They ripped off the outer, surrounding material from the cat. Causing the cats insulation to be lost also.

Post a pic. My cat is only shielded by the bolt in covers that hide the driveshaft. Nothing between it and the road.

This shielding on my oem cat is like crimped, or welded on. This outer cover is what was lost. Ill try and get some pics now.

The heat shield helps protect the cat from minor impacts with rocks/other debris and they also protect equipment close to the cats from being damaged by the heat of the catalytic converter. If I were in your situation I would want the shop to get it back into the condition it was in before the damage. Make sure the ceramic/other interior components of the cat are not broken. They are very fragile.

Makes sense to me, heat is for sure a concern. But also like you said the cat must have taken quite the shot to peel this portion back.

[Dj Buttchug]

fwiw ive been running my daily with this material removed for 2 years. no problems to report

[jrobie79]

same^

[RCM3]

fwiw ive been running my daily with this material removed for 2 years. no problems to report

Cool, makes me feel better. I just didnt want this to pop up around smog time and be a reason why I fail. Ill have the exhaust shop thats to do the repairs run a smog check to make sure as it just passed in October, some good advice from a forum member via text. Thanks again guys.

[Northern]

+1 to what buttchug said. What was left of mine was hanging by some oversized hose clamps when I got the car, but it's long gone now.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Not going to hurt anything without it.

Honestly if it came off while pulling the car onto the rack, it was about time anyway.

[Todd Black 88]

Fwiw, it's apparently there to protect grass from igniting when parked on.

I just removed mine because it was rattling like hell at high revs.

[RCM3]

Fwiw, it's apparently there to protect grass from igniting when parked on.

I just removed mine because it was rattling like hell at high revs.

Oh really? So no more off-roading in the e30?! Good to know though thanks. So it sounds like it's not the end of the world about losing this part of the cat, but I'll still have it checked out fully tomorrow while its on tire racks dime to ensure I'm in the clear.