i had no choice with the immediate necessity to replace my catalytic converter, but i ended upwith straight piping it the same length the cat took up.. steel from can. tire. what can i do to bring up the torque and pressure.

 

The exhaust system from the end of exhaust manifold to the tail pipe has no effect on performance, as long as the diameter of pipe is the same or larger than stock diameter

The exhaust manifold(header) is designed to give extra performance at specific RPM range, creates a lower pressure that "sucks" exhaust out of the cylinders which leaves more power on the crank for the rear wheel, called a "Scavenging exhaust system", free power, lol
So as long as you don't mess with that, or use a smaller diameter pipe you can do anything you want from there to the tail pipe

Cats and mufflers don't effect performance one way or another, as long as they are not clogged

On 1995 and up Rangers there was an O2 sensor after the Cat(s), and if Cat is gone a code will be set and CEL will come on, that can sometimes effect performance, but longshot on that one