I'm a new member but I recently had a cat stolen from a 2001 Ford van on December 23 around the Seattle suburbs which is getting terrible for thefts.The officer that took the report said it was his fourth "so far" that day.Mall parking lots are huge for thefts here at that time of year but mine was from MY driveway in a nicer neighborhood at 3pm in the afternoon!
Later it was towed to an "authorized service center" for the insurance company..who parked it outside their locked up yard and the tow driver left the key on the rear wheel(duh..the fender over the wheel is like 6" above the tire?!)..and the van itself was stolen and never found sometime between December 29th and January 4.
Anyway,I've been looking into some type of cat protection that might be sufficient and as a deterrent rather than highly costly,Theives are more interested in a quick 2 minute cut,grab,and run rather than having to saw at something for a long period of time and possibly getting caught.
I've also been a remodeling contractor for a lot of years and have experience with using sawzalls a lot,their favorite tool for cutting out cats.The hardest things to cut are moving cables,1/8" wire mesh,and stainless steel bars,,therefore I'm thinking that maybe some kind of galvanized chain link fencing mesh interlaced with stainless cables going through a couple of frame holes on the top side(higher than the cat blocking them from cutting) might be enough of a headache to make them think "why bother!"..I'll look for the next one! Throw in some clamps that jiggle(around the exhaust pipe and stainless cable or bar when they try to cut them;used more for making things not rattle when driving ,but do make noise when the they try to cut them and causing more noise might help them make up their mind also to move on. A stainless rod above the cat going through the chain link mesh to tie both sides of the mesh together around the cat and pipe up there,perhaps the cable wrapped through a couple drilled end holes in the bar..one look and they would go somewhere else.
Yes..I bought a second Astro,the first is my old 90 AWD EXT that has been sitting idle in my driveway for 14 years;I was currently restoring that while waiting for my Ford van to be found.The second is the 2004 RWD one that I bought 50 days without a car, after I finally got a cash reimbursement for my Ford..and I wanted something at least to drive so I could quit borrowing the wife's Pathfinder.
Yes..both ASTROS of mine (and probably ALL others) have very easy cats to steal..On the 90 I added an "erector set" of some " drilled hole" L angle metal(unistrut?) about 1-1/2"x2" but it was more of a headache than what it is was worth working with,too straight and stiff,but they more than likely will laugh at the attempt and walk off.Some " mesh" that is flexible and will follow any shape is better to work with.
Welding cages to me would be a headache,especially when they need to be removed for replacing or possibly fixing something in a botched half-sawn theft..or a future mechanical pipe/muffler replacement.. there goes more $$ just to remove and reinstall it.
Around here,law enforcement agencies are setting up sites that will paint you cat with bright orange ceramic Ultra high heat VHT paint..after etching the last eight numbers of the Vin number for vehicles making them harder to sell unless they totally dismantle the cat down to the important elements inside.the paint is about $6-8 a can..and I use a dremel with a skinny bit and do my own.That way the cat can be matched with the theft..so smart thieves hopefully won't bother it..no way to sell it easy.That's cheap and worth a try. You need to just drive your Astro for aqbout 20 minutes afterwards to harden the paint so it is hard to get off..and the numbers are still etched on thecat case."Mine says "Stolen from Vehicle # ^%FR11YG"(the 8 last numbers and letters)..let's see them sell that in one piece.
Most cat cages you can buy cost about as much as the cat itself..and the labor costs..??
The cat on the Ford van..I paid $250 for the comp insurance because I figured the cost to me using Rock Auto would have been about $550(parts and shipping) and the time about TWO HOURS for me at 71 years old to remove the three flange bolts(cut on the cat side of the exhaust pipe flange,throw away the old cat flange,bolt the new upper end with an 8" long exhaust sleeve(or however long they cut out plus 2-3") on the backpipe,,just short of the O2 sensor(2-3" of pipe left there before the sensor), pull out the Oxygen sensor, , clean off the original pipe..and do about 20" of welding,2 diameters at the ends of the 3"plus sleeve( a buddy of mine would have probably charged me $20 for that,two blocks away).Then screw the O2 sensor back in(I replaced it about a year ago).In the long run,I should have done it myself.I didn't even need to jack up the van and the space was wide open with nothing nearby in the way!
Sorry this is so long..hopefully someone can use the advice and save some $$ or give you some ideas for building your own.Astros don't appear to have much body pieces or framework to bolt to or between around the cats.
