Lude Generation

I decided to tackle to exhaust manifold gasket today and i thought it was just a case of removing the nuts and pulling the manifold away from the engine to seat the gasket, but i got the nuts off and couldnt get the manifold off of the bolts.

I also tried undoing the nuts where the manifold meets the next part (the downpipe?) but realised there is another nut on the underside which i cant reach which needs to be undone.

so do you have to take the manifold out completely to do the gasket? or should i have been able to pull it away without trying to disconnect it where it meets the downpipe?

Ah wicked thanks. will have a look when i jack the car up to redo the nuts on the downpipe. should i replace the gasket on the downpipe now that i have cracked the nuts or will it be ok just to retighten them?

Ok thanks. will try and get one anyway i think but will just tighten it up for now and use the tissue paper test to make sure its not leaking.

Yep, as GJM says, if you undo the support bolts from the back of the engine the header/downpipe should then get enough movement on it (via the flexi) so you can pull the manifold forward off the engine I would think.
Try to put as little strain as poss on the flexi though - wouldn't want to break it!

There is also 2 bolts at the very bottom of the manifold that secure it to the front of the block, and then the 2 at the back of the block as stated above.

Ok, none of the bolts mentioned were in place. when the manifold was unbolted and i got under the car, i could move the entire exhaust back and forth. wasnt secured anywhere towards the front.

i managed to get the manifold off and i think i have found where the fume smell in the cabin was originating from. if there was a gasket in the manifold to downpipe, its the original one from the factory, as there isnt anything left of it.

is it very bad that none of these support bolts are in place? it passed the mot like it

i will post pics of what i have found so far when i get back from work tonight, but im thinking im probably going to need a new manifold and downpipe, as im pretty sure there are holes in the downpipe part. as for the manifold, well, you will see why in the pictures!

I need to get rid of this thing i think, everywhere i look there is something wrong!! lol.

That's the luck of the draw with old cars unfortunately. Sorry you're having such bad luck, but everything can be worked through slowly...

I'm a bit surprised they didn't pick up on the exhaust being loose/not properly hung at the MOT, as you say!
Without those supports in place, it means there's a lot more strain on the manifold, cat and flexi than there should be and I expect there'll be a lot of movement put through the flexi (and even the cabling to the lambda sensor), which will just cause it all to wear out a lot more quickly.

Are all the brackets still in place? If so, just get some bolts and stick them in and all should be hunky-dory on that front (depending on any other holes you've found )

im not sure about the brackets? is there a diagram in the manual showing where they are?
im hoping the manifold can be salvaged, but like i said i will post a pic when i get home from work and see what you giys think. im not certain there was holes in the downpipe but it looked like it, and there was a lot of exhaust paste stuff around the area where they bolt together.

So this is the manifold, and you can see on each side where the bolt goes through that its been cut away.
Is it gonna be safe to use like this?
And im guessing by the look of the soot that it was leaking?


And here is the downpipe, doesnt look like a gasket has been used? will give it a good scraping and put a gasket in.


And here is the rest after a bit of a scraping, its pretty smooth but how thorough do i need to be? (it was all covered in exhaust paste too)


Im a little paranoid about all this stuff as i once had a corsa that tried to gas me!

And i know its hit an miss with an older car, but it just seems whoever had it before me has bodged literally everything together. its a nightmare!

Don't be worrying man, that's an aftermarket stainless steel manifold, someone has widened the holes on the manifold to fit the standard down pipe, sand down all sections with sand paper so there nice and flush, stick on a the proper steel gaskets and jobs a goodun no need for paste at all.