burning without the cat?

I have a VC WinterWarm Large that has burned well for 7 or 8 seasons. I was doing the annual maintenance/clean up/checking the gaskets and the cat started to disintegrate. The cover panel on the refractory was cracked, so I ordered another one of those too.

Come to find out it might be another month before it comes in. In the meantime, can I burn a fire in bypass without causing grief? If so, do you think I can flip the damper and run it through the refractory w/o the cat in there, or would that cause some damage to the refractory?

Thanks
Steve

The refractory box looked solid. The front piece that fits in and covers the cat was cracked though - just sort of disintegrated in my hand. Looked like a section of the car crumbled, and that area was bulged, which cracked the refractory cover.

I guess I'm thinking the refractory normally handles the heat of the cat and cat exhaust, running regular smoke/flame shouldn't really be too much of a challenge.