The thermal reactor on my 79 is toast and is basically an empty tin can.. and sounds like it. I’m ordering a presilencer to go in its place.
My question, the factory header is still in good shape, will it make any difference in the sound if I leave it vs getting an RB header?

 

The 1979/1980 exhaust manifold, header, is actually called the Termo-reactor. The pre-silencer will need to be heavy stainless to take the heat.

 

Not sure if you are really speaking about the thermal reactor or the heat exchanger being a tin can. I don't think you can mix and match RB exhaust parts with the OEM system. Wouldn't it be either one way or the other? Here is a pic of the stock system and the components.

 

This thing.. or is this a cat? Not the original engine, I bought it with 12A that had the beehive cooler so anything’s possible.

 

That's a catalytic converter, and it looks like it's in pretty good shape. The catalyst is in bead form, not on a ceramic matrix.

You could get a test pipe.

I have a high flow cat from RX7.com that's a direct fit for that older converter (at least on my 83) but I'm not sure if they are still available.


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Aha ok then thanks! It’s rusty guts came out when i removed and shook it.
Thus the tin can sound