Not sure about the Florida laws, but I recently discovered that the exhaust manifold on my 96 Nissan pickup had a crack that went almost all the way around (no, I'm not allowed to have a maintenance free car). I picked up a new aftermarket manifold off ebay for about $100. I would have gone with a header, but I'll be selling the car as soon as it's fixed.

Just for fun, I tried welding the old cracked manifold with about three different types of rod (none of them nickle). Every weld I laid down developed a lengthwise crack as soon as the metal began to cool (within about 30 seconds). I don't even think that the rod metal bonded with the manifold. Maybe if I used a good cast iron rod and preheated the manifold, things would have turned out better. Oh well, live and learn.