Hi Mark,(and List)
Is your leak at the head or at the crossover pipe?
A common cause for exhaust leaks at the manifold is when a car is run thru a
huge puddle that is deep enough to douse the hot manifold with large amounts
of cool water. This is known as shock cooling. The manifold will warp and
possibly crack. That is why it is important to have the splash-guards in
place in the inner-fenderwells....and to avoid large puddles.
I doubt there is a gasket in there. If you want to install one(I
would),I'd suggest the use of the steel-shim type. Be sure to check the
manifold for cracks and warpage first. If the manifold is warped,it's mating
surface with the head can be planed-down by a machine shop.
Removing a manifold from a '74 is not for the faint-of-heart.....but it
can be done. There is more underhood clearance on the '74-5 Imps and '76-8
NYB's than earlier years. Kerry P just changed one on a '73. More power to
him for that!
Unhooking the crossover pipe from the bottom of the manifold isn't too bad
of a job. It is attached simply by 2 nutz and boltz. If they snap when you
try to loosen 'em...it is no big deal because you should use new hardware
anyway. I always try to snap 'em so I don't have to unthread 'em. The
crossover pipe is not attached like GM's which have a few wimpy studs
threading into the manifold.( I remember getting in there with a torch to
heat the nutz up so as not to snap the studs,,,but no matter WHAT,they'd
ALWAYS snap off flush with the manifold. GRRR! JUNK! <--that is one of the
reasons why I quit being an auto mech and became a lazy pilot...hehehe.)
Thank You MoPar for the making the task of taking off the x-over pipe easy!
Where the manifold bolts to the head is another matter. You DON'T want to
snap those! If one snaps off flush with the head...Uh-oh! Quality tools will
lessen the chance of rounding-off a bolt-head. It also helps to *Whack* the
bolthead once or twice to "set" the bolt in the threads....then loosen. Be
prepared for an Anti-Freeze bath...because the bolts thread into the H2O
jackets.
Left-to-loosen...right-to-tighten.
Steve from Albany,N.Y.
'75 Imp 4dr <--no exhaust noise. (Luckily)
'79 440 powered 35 ft RV <--with manifolds off of Chitty-Chitty,Bang-Bang.
No splash guards. What did they expect??
_________________________________________________________
----Original Message Follows----
From: Mark E Blitman <Fedsales@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IML: Exhaust Manifold Gasket
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 13:26:00 -0400
hi gang:
my '74 imp. needs one replaced. other than a little extra noise what is
the down side to not fixing? i am getting horror stories about the
problems i may be facing if I go ahead with the repair..currently all I
am experiencing is a little extra rumble which is less than my neighbors
new truck..thanks!
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