My cat gave me this code i unplugged my o2 and the top cover of the o2 had completly disappeared... i added 2 spark plug defoulers and everything was good, I than switched to a test pipe and still good

 

Sad to think about that but you're right!

 

The metal honeycomb can break loose and snap the tip off the O2 sensor. Happened to mine at just 52K miles (though 5K of those were on track lol). Your failure seems a little less catastrophic -- when the honeycomb goes, it's no use clearing the code, it just comes right back; plus it makes a godawful rattle!

Look for a used OE cat, they're fairly common with everyone going to HFCs these days. O2 sensors are harder to find, but I'm sure there's a few out there.

 

Ive bought a few Bosch O2 sensors to replace the ones on my car. Quality seems good and the car runs much better with all the misc sensor replacements Ive done. They are extremely cheap on ebay.

As for the cat, Ive been doing a bit of googling since my car came with a gutted cat. I found an EVS HFC on craigslist for a decent price so I bought that and it seems to work well for now. Personally Id rather have a good working cat rather than a few extra HP, and I am debating going with a proper non-HFC down the road. If I had to do it, I would probably get a Cali-legal cat (since i figure they would 'convert' the most) and have a good exhaust shop weld in place of stock cat using the OE flanges. I came across this, seemed good:


I would go this route before paying 650 for an OE cat. Im going to do a bit more reading before I decide which way to go.