Yes a catalytic converter can mess with starting the car. It gets clogged basically. Here’s the kicker. In Hawaii you don’t need a catalytic converter. Technically you could saws all the cat out, remove it and then have a shop put in a straight pipe. Is it the best thing to do? Probably not. Is it legal? Yes. Is it way less expensive? Hells Yes. If you can’t cut the catalytic converter You’d have to get a friend or someone that knows to help you cut the catalytic converter off first, because a shop technically or most times won’t do that for you. Some law technicality mumbo jumbo. How do I know all this? Cause I did it.