I had an exhaust leak before taking the engine out of my 88gt. I fixed everything else, but thought for good measure I would pull the insulation off the y-pipe. Now I am glad I did. Look at the pics below. There appears to small cracks forming at the base of each of the welds where one manifold meets the other. Looks to be a bad spot for a fix. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Here's one side


Here is a closeup view of the crack from that side


Here the other crack . It is best viewed from the opposite side of the first


Here is a closeup view of this second crack



To clarify- the first crack is one one of the pipes. The second crack is on the other pipe. So two different cracks.


Can this effectively be fixed and be sure there are no more leaks or is it more cost effective to buy another?

I just had this problem with my 85 GT, a few small cracks about in the same area you have. All I did was take it to my trusted muffler shop and they welded them shut for me. Took 5 min. The best part of it was that they didnt charge me a thing, totally free. Not to mention that it fixed my exhaust leak. Better than spending $150 buck for a new one.

Take the crossover pipe to an exhaust shop and have them cut open the "Y" pipe and have it ported. There are restrictions inside the "Y" section that deform the pipes inside to look like two small "D"'s.
It will repair the cracks and improve exhaust flow.

The place by me did it for $50 and it is a noticeable difference

Here is a pic of how it looks stock:

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 05-23-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Oreif: Take the crossover pipe to an exhaust shop and have them cut open the "Y" pipe and have it ported. There are restrictions inside the "Y" section that deform the pipes inside to look like two small "D"'s. It will repair the cracks and improve exhaust flow. The place by me did it for $50 and it is a noticeable difference Here is a pic of how it looks stock:

I also paid $50 to get it done. Great investment if you have it out of the car already.

Yes, just weld it up. No big deal. I welded mine with my wire welder before I ported the Y out.

Got to remember it's a 20+ year old exhaust pipe..

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 05-23-2008).]

Based on where my cracks are do they try to weld from the outside? How do you get the weld in the crevasse between the pipes?