360 Exhaust Gasket Replacement Advice

I'm getting a slight exhaust odor from my 360 Spider with the top down, and plan on replacing the donut and Tubi muffler gaskets in an attempt to stop it. I seek advice from anyone who has gone down this road.

All of the exhaust hardware is heavily rusted and I'm concerned that I may not get it all off without cutting it with a torch. Is there anything I should do besides soaking nuts and bolts in PB Blaster a day in advance? Can anyone confirm that Tubi uses the stock gasket between the silencer and tips? Is there an aftermarket equivalent to the expensive stock Ferrari gasket between the silencer and tips?

Thanks for the help.

 

Both sides? The header side of the cat has a donut gasket, but the silencer side doesn't have any gasket. Do you mean to remove the cat and clean both sides?

Good advice. I'll do that. Did you use an angle grinder to cut the head off the bolts?

 

I can't detect any cracks on the headers. And, I'm in no rush to use aftermarket headers.

 

I thought so too. No ticking sounds. But, if low pressure was drawing it into the cabin of my Spider, I would think that others would have the same issue.

 

Yes, all the exhaust unions are scary with rust, so that donut has got to rotten. The silencer support was rusty too, but I took care of that when the bumper was off. I don't know if this is typical. I'm of a mind to replace them the exhaust unions, if just to get rid of the rust.