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Cat Defender Gen 3 converter shield modified for Prius v.

Discussion in 'Prius v Accessories and Modifications' started by Georgina Rudkus, Jun 28, 2020.

  1. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    I recently completed an install of the Cat Defender converter shield on my 2012 Prius v.

    To clear the wider heat exchanger, I had to cut away a 4x3/4 inch strip of the shield at the rear passenger side shown in red in the photo.

    Instead of using the supplied aluminum rivets and screws, I used the rivet nut method that Miller Cat specified. I further modified Miller Cat's method and used stainless neoprene sealing washers, instead of fender washers and split lock washers with M6x1.0x16mm T27 security Torx screws.

    I filled the excess holes with epoxy glued on cut off aluminum large head rivets supplied with Cat Defender to fool would be thieves.

    I did not install the rear shield. cutout needed for Prius v.jpg cat defender packaged.JPG cat defender front plate rear passenger side mounting.JPG
     
  2. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Crazy that anyone must do this...
     
  3. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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  4. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    I was under the impression that the gen2 cats had high scrap value but the gen3s were not as attractive to thieves in the night. I know there are effective ways to discourage legitimate recyclers from buying stolen parts that have worked.
     
  5. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    They reduced the amount of precious metals in the Gen 4. The attached photo shows how large the Gen 4 cat is.

    The Gen 3 is a lot easier to remove than the Gen 2, but as the supply of Gen 2 diminishes, they will go after the Gen 3 cats. Removing a Gen 3 cat requires four cuts in the correct places, and the thief will be sprayed with coolant from the heat exchanger, which can be boiling hot.
    Prius Gen 4 exhaust.jpg

    The piece with the greatest amount of precious metal is the one between the exhaust manifold and the rear oxygen sensor. They steal both on the Gen 2 and Gen 3, because they are really compact and easy to transport.
     
    #5 Georgina Rudkus, Jun 28, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2020
    acceleraptor likes this.
  6. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Crazy. Crack is whack.
     
  7. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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