They interview a mechanic who welds on a couple of pieces of rebar for $75.
The rebar lowers the car’s center of gravity, too!
True…but I seriously doubt it could be measured.
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Thieves can defeat the rebar with hydraulic bolt cutters. Think jaws of life, or some other BFH analog.
You can cut re-bar with the same saws-all with a metal blade you are cutting the exhaust pipe with. Re-bar isn’t hardened steel. Just takes the thieves a little more time.
Now a little drill rod across the pipes… That would make the blade unhappy!
NPR catches up? It used to be hilarious to watch the TV news in the the UK. They would simply hold up the daily paper and point to the stories and read them. No need for any news staff. Just copy whatever else someone puts out.
I just used a metal cutting blade to cut rebar, but it’s pretty cheap anyway.
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That’s why the talking heads on UK news programs are referred to as “news readers”.
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I heard it this morning while doing my errands
Nothing new here
You guys know my opinion about catalytic converter thieves and what kind of punishment I feel they deserve 
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I still think the St. Paul Police are way ahead on this one by painting them. Then maybe put a note on it that this is my third one so please look elseware.
Glad St. Paul is doing so much better, remember my grandmother complaining one year because they ran out of funds to salt and plow the roads. Late 80s maybe.
I wouldn’t drought it but I was around there then and just don’t remember. Seems to me they were on a Jan to Jan fiscal year instead of a July to July so once January hit, they would have money again or maybe they could borrow a tank of gas and bucket of salt from Roseville or something.
This week a SUV came in with the catalytic converter missing, parts system shows 44 units on back-order for that part number, this theft problem is nation wide.
No scrap metal dealer should buy catalytic converters that have been cut from the pipes, an old converter should have a flange or a slide over pipe connection.
Ten years ago I was turned away from a scrap metal dealer because I didn’t have proof of the source of my metal. Today it seems that these dealers don’t fear being caught with stolen property, police are not going to be able to prove which vehicle it came from.
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Just a couple of random comments on this story. The legit converter says he does not deal with anyone who comes in and cannot submit to scrutiny. He also says he gets 2000 converters a day from reputable suppliers around the country. I find it hard to believe all of those 2000 cats daily are legally sourced.
I also find it hard to believe that it takes a long time to cut 1/2" rebar while ruining top line multiple blades on a top line SawzAll. I’ve cut 1/2" rebar at times with a hacksaw and ho-hum blades in no time at all although my preferred method is a narrow cut (.045) 4" grinding disc which will blow through rebar in a few seconds and said disc surviving many cuttings.
As Mustangman mentions, drill rod is a different story.
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Well, yes and no.
In the US, TV and radio stations typically employ a department full of people to produce the copy that is read from the teleprompter by the Talking Heads. Much of that content likely originates with newspapers or news agencies, but then it is refined/rewritten by the station’s staff.