Review on Pacesetter 750159 Direct Fit Catalytic Converter by Montez Vazquez

I noticed the low price of the item on Amazon so I checked the manufacturer's website for more details. The claims on the Pacesetter website about direct fit, stainless steel tubing and "factory heat shields can be used in most cases" sounded promising, so I decided to buy this item. I was able to install a manifold catalytic converter but had a few problems. It was impossible to put a nut on any of the bolts that attach the manifold to the head due to insufficient clearance between the manifold tube and the bolt. The standard nuts had a flange so I switched to a non-flanged nut but it still didn't fit. The problem area was the lower front stud. There is a lot more relief around this stud in the header photo from the website than the header I received. This item came with bolts that screwed into the flange that connects the block to the downstream exhaust system. However, despite the fact that the bolts were brought down, there wasn't enough thread on the bolt to tighten the flanges securely. To work around this problem I had to put washers under the nuts. The kit did not include a new outlet end seal. Normally that would just be an annoyance. However, the seal was not shipped and could not be ordered by NAPA, Carquest, O'Reillys and Autozone. Luckily, Advance Auto had one in stock at a store about seven miles from where I lived. If this Advance Auto wasn't in stock I would have to wait until Monday to get it from the dealer. The 2004 Mazda 6 S is not among the "most applications" where factory heat shields can be used. The shape of the Pacesetter collector converter differs significantly from the factory unit. It is not possible to use the factory heat shield. Pacesetters need to be aware of this when designing their devices. So it would be very helpful if they provided this information for each department.