I just went through this process and had to grind off the bolt heads-

FYI - I ordered a set of  exhaust manifolds one of our  list venders:
it came  from S & S headers in three pieces -
The front manifold  was one piece and the rear was two pieces with slip
fittings...
4 hours and a lot of swearing later I got the thing on and together and
it is just enough out of alignment that I've got a leak at the front
left of the manifold port.
Be warned, if you get one of these you might have to take it to be
heated and bent to fit properly.  Also, there was not enough clearance
for the rock shield/bottom engine
mount to bolt properly back to the bottom of the engine.

On top of that, now the van has an idling issue.  After it warms up for
about 5 minutes it doesn't idle -
So I day of troubleshooting ahead, could be anything from a clogged
catalytic converter (already checked the O2 sensor), etc...

Funny thing, the van was running like a champ before I decided to fix
the exhaust leak...

Such is life -
and get a quality replacement part!

chris

 Marla Stelk wrote:
> Hello listees,
>
> So I foolishly thought it would be a simple fix...
> I have a leak in my exhaust where a manifold has either deteriorated
> or blown out (the cause I'm thinking of my idling issues).  I bought a
> new one to replace it thinking I could just undue the exhaust bolts,
> slide the old one out and slide the new one in.  Of course, however,
> my exhaust, although replaced about 4 years ago is all rusty now and
> the bolts are basically parts of the pipes now.  Any tips on how I
> should proceed?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> MJ Stelk
> '87 Westy GL
>
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