Quote Originally Posted by AnthonyF
3. a catalytic converter will not make the car not idle. It'll perform terribly but it'll still start.
Not necessarily. My brother had a 1986 or so Buick LeSabre with a 3800 V6 that just died on him one day. The car stumped both my Dad and me as to why it wouldn't start. I had other things going on and couldn't spend much time on the repair, but my Dad kept at it and finally unbolted the cat. Lo and behold the thing fired right up.

I don't think the cat is the OP's problem, though. The first thing I would check would be spark.