When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Yes those are what I saw on the thermal reactor in my earlier pic. If you look at that pic of the two manifolds, the Therm Reactor covers them but the FB manifold won't. Not completely anyway. So....
these might be open and letting small amount of exhaust out, along with the TIC TIC TIC sound.
OP,
Put your car up on ramps or stands or blocks, set the parking brake and turn the car on. Now start crawling around and find that leak. I sometimes use a piece of vacuum tube like a stethoscope from my ear, and move the other end around all gaskets on the intake and exhaust. With both ears open you hear everything, but with a tube you hear what's right at the other end.
The 79-80 SA exhaust manifold gasket has those holes...
But the 81-85 FB doesn't..
and the manifold flange is much narrower, tapering down to the lower mounting studs. This gasket is for your FB manifold, but if it's installed upside down it won't cover those small exhaust/air injection ports. If his mechanic used something fancy like this...
Or took a 13B gasket and cut out the middle, then the holes would be open.
Only OP can find out for sure. The rest of us are just guessing.
Ok, so I found the leak.. it's a huge one. don't know why I never bothered putting my hand there ( actually, my right arm has a 2 quarter-size burn mark from when I last put my hand back there,, so that's why..) . where the header connects to the pipe, there about a pencil-sized gap on the other side .. the bolt is straight-up missing, and it's wedged open.. and it seems there's no gasket to be found.. I stuffed a rag there for a few seconds and the sound got muffled about 25% .. i can feel the air puffs on my hand to boot.
Well congrats!!! Now you can buy a gasket and fix it. Loosen the bolts at the next few connection point back along the pipe, install a gasket at this leak point (and a bolt!) and start snugging everything down evenly. Then go back to your "mechanic" that installed the exhaust and tell him he's a hack.
Ok, so I found the leak.. it's a huge one. don't know why I never bothered putting my hand there ( actually, my right arm has a 2 quarter-size burn mark from when I last put my hand back there,, so that's why..) . where the header connects to the pipe, there about a pencil-sized gap on the other side .. the bolt is straight-up missing, and it's wedged open.. and it seems there's no gasket to be found.. I stuffed a rag there for a few seconds and the sound got muffled about 25% .. i can feel the air puffs on my hand to boot.
Well that's excellent. Kansas City Repu recommended these exhaust gaskets in a recent post.
Well congrats!!! Now you can buy a gasket and fix it. Loosen the bolts at the next few connection point back along the pipe, install a gasket at this leak point (and a bolt!) and start snugging everything down evenly. Then go back to your "mechanic" that installed the exhaust and tell him he's a hack.
I think the bolt just came undone and the gasket disintegrated itself. I paid 200$ for the entire exhaust setup installed so .. yeah LOL
