rear header r&r

I believe I may have a cracked rear header. The car, an grigio 82 308 GTSi, came to me with the lower portion of the rear header wrapped in something that looked like glass fiber muffler bandage. Lately I could hear the sound of an exhaust leak, so tonight I unwrapped the header. The bandage covered from the last inch or so of the heat shield to the collector flange. Tonight I unwrapped it to determine the repair and found nothing, nothing that is except a loose heat shield. I've searched the forum and know these headers crack, but where is the common failure location? Could the crack be inside the heat shield?

I'm thinking about pulling the header, removing the shield, having it welded and jet hot coated. It looks like the header will come out the bottom fairly easily, maybe with nothing but the disconnection of the parking brake cable mechanism? Is it as easy as that? Any pointers you guys have will be much appreciated.


--Woody

 

My cynical nature makes me think that the front will crack right *after* I fix the rear, but maybe I'm due a lucky break! (no pun intended)

--Woody

 

Thanks guys, this job doesn't look too bad, just looking at it from under the car. Can anyone tell me where the cracks typically occur? Should I expect issues with the nuts or studs that hold it to the head?

 

Thanks Richard, I might need to take you up on that. The header doesn't look bad, but of course I can't actually see much of it. I would expect it to crack at the collector or at the head flange, but I can't see evidence of that. Tonight I'll start it on the lift and see if I can get more audible clues. I'm just thankful it isn't the front.

--Woody