Thanks to Mike Catlin, the 82 now has  never been quieter. Last week I
installed the left side exhaust header that Mike UPS'd to us. Installing it
was not a problem. Removing the previous one was.

 I discovered that the wreckers who sold the previous header to us had done
the following:
Peeled back the outer tin shroud around the header; welded the broken header
together (without our knowledge) and covered up the weld with the shroud
-selling it to us as complete. The place was ABC Car Parts in San Jose. 

Since the weld was never completely whole, there has been a small leak ever
since we installed the engine about 20,000 miles ago. I assumed that the
sound from that side (which was barely noticeable) was normal. My question
is, what effect, if any, would this have on the life of the engine? Gas
mileage? Emissions? The break was after both exhaust ports and before the
flange.

 Thanks to all those who suggested remedies about supporting the exhaust system.

Regards - DC
David Carment
NPSIA - Conflict Analysis Stream
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 5B6
613-520-2600-6662
fax:613-520-2889