Exhaust leak question

My 91 305 has no cat and just runs to a flowmaster muffler and dumped at the axle. So the entire system from right where the cat would have been, back, is new as of about a month or two ago when i got it. It has just developed an exhaust leak forward of that... i can't tell for sure at the moment. If im under the hood, I can hear it on the passenger side but can't tell for sure where... I can't get under it easily since its lowered and I wound up in the ER the other night because my safety squints failed me and now Ive got an eye injury so it's not quite as easy to crawl around until it heals. I was going to take it to the exhaust place on wednesday that did the exhaust and have them check where they welded it all up and also the manifold, but those plans were sorta ruined with the ER visit.... But I plan on taking it in next wednesday (my only day off during the actual week) and getting them to look at it, but I feel it may be more of a manifold issue....

Do these things come from the factory without gaskets ? IF so, what is a good gasket to go back with ? Also, how big of a pain in the ass is this going to be to get to it? How likely are the bolts going to be to come out in one piece?

There are dual conical inserts in the pipes at the manifold/pipe joint. The Y pipe goes under the engine, and is welded to the passenger side pipe at the passenger's side of the engine. It could leak at the weld. You may find a lot of resistance from muffler shops to working on the car without the cat. I believe you can find the Y pipe somewhere. To install a new one, you may find it necessary to put a small flex/adapter pipe between the Y pipe, and the rest of your exhaust. If the Y pipe has a leak, another option is to remove the Y pipe, and have the local muffler shop make one like it, or get it repaired. Getting it to fit perfectly may be an issue having it made off of the car.

Ok cool. I may try to run by there on my way to work tomorrow morning- not worried about the lack of a cat. Car doesn’t need a state inspection anyway and this place has been there forever and done custom exhausts and cat deletes since I was in high school

Fred Kiehl wrote:

There are dual conical inserts in the pipes at the manifold/pipe joint. The Y pipe goes under the engine, and is welded to the passenger side pipe at the passenger's side of the engine. It could leak at the weld. You may find a lot of resistance from muffler shops to working on the car without the cat. I believe you can find the Y pipe somewhere. To install a new one, you may find it necessary to put a small flex/adapter pipe between the Y pipe, and the rest of your exhaust. If the Y pipe has a leak, another option is to remove the Y pipe, and have the local muffler shop make one like it, or get it repaired. Getting it to fit perfectly may be an issue having it made off of the car.

Fred, i still have this weird exhaust type noise.. its from the front of the engine, pass side. it looks like there's some stupid BS hoses and maybe a smog pump or something under there? I don't know... but it sounds like its up higher than the manifold area, or at the very lowest, the manifold itself.... hard to tell... some days its louder, some days its very quiet.... what all **** is there? its almost like there's something that may be an easier fix than just an exhaust leak... definitely not at the pipe/manifold collector.... any other suggestions?

There is a check valve for the air injection system with the ancillary hoses that could be malfunctioning.