Working on an 8/87 2.6 Raider Auto, the exhaust manifold has been broken, welded once, broke again (all on #4 runner), and is now also broken on #1 runner. Anyone have a good, solid (read:un-repaired) exhaust manifold they wish to get rid of? (See pics)

The Raider is Lady-owned, driven about 80-100 mi per day, she purchased it new...99.999% of life has been ON-road, and has over 245,000 miles on it currently. And she won't part with it for anything, she really wants to fix it. Well, the exhaust is just another fix to do, along with the fact that it overheated a couple days ago...guess you know what that means.

Ypu, pressurized the cooling system to about 14 lbs, let it set for about 20 mins (with full cooling system). Upon removing pressure tester, re-capping system & cranking...dead miss, fresh, wet coolant around exhaust pipe/manifold connection (see white traces in manifold pic), and system had pressurized within 30 seconds run time (from cold).

Time for an Alabama head & good gaskets, head bolts, etc. But would like to replace exhaust manifold if one is available. Thanks for your time in advance.

NOTE: Unlike bigger shops, I ONLY make my money on LABOR, NOT parts mark-up. Besides, this belongs to my next-door neighbor...and I'd not assume make enemies with anyone by doing the "make every penny I can squeeze out of them" deal. So, please don't consider that I will be marking up parts over what I'd pay for them. I actually give people I work for the parts receipts. Thanks again <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

This is the Raider I am fixing for the Lady:


Another pic, along with my 90 Monty & my 92 Mighty Max, in front of my garage. The white 03 Monty Sport AWD is the wife's:


Exhaust Manifold on the Raider. Note the repair & crack at rear, the crack in front, and the white residue on the exhaust pipe conection:


And, another view of the Mitsus. Our (the wife's & mine) Quests are in one side of the garage:

Been a long time since I had a carb 2.6, but I'll check. Somebody here has one, I know, and that one is too nice not to get back on the road. Besides, how could you not trust somebody who admits they are from Oliver Springs, TN. You guys still glow in the dark up there?

Hehe...yup, the old government plants are just over the hills from me. My father actually retired from working in one of them. Pretty quiet now since the majority of work closed down some years ago, mostly just subcontractors in there doing clean-up. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, no need to pull wool over the eyes here, just simple little old me...LOL. Thanks for your effort, though!

Has any of the folks here done any wheeling around here? I think it's called Coal Creek or something of the sort, I am unsure actually. Lots & lots of trailered jeeps & such come up here almost every weekend, and the guests fill the motels in Oak Ridge, so it must be pretty good...many from other states. A bunch of big wind-driven generators on top of the mountain, and from what I hear...LOTS of good trails. So close to me...and yet I know nothing more than that about it. And I'm only about 10 miles from the entrance to it.

Thanks again...Brian <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Rockauto.com sells brand new exhaust manifolds, about $138.00 Rockauto.com ...just in case you can't find a good used one.

Thanks, Todd...didn't know they were still sold as new. Much appreciated! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

you could always get a thorley header also.

Thanks for the reply...and yes, always a possibility. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Just for sake of asking...is the 2.6 Exhaust Manifold prone to cracking? Not that I have really heard of it happening before, but was curious. Initial observation shows that there is an bracket-like clamp around the exhaust pipe near the manifold connection that bolts to a bracket on the block...with no bolt in it. I'm figuring that is probably a good reason for the cracks as they are, transfering shift & flex up onto the cast manifold (that'll be fixed with the head & manifold replacement). In all the years she (my neighbor) has had this Raider, it seems it has always been rather loud-ish going by my house. Not as in an "open-exhaust"/performance muffler type of loud, but just rather noisy. I adjusted the valve lash on it a few months ago, seemed to run pretty good. I guess the cracked mani can make one sound bad. The wife's blue Conquest (stock boost) sure did sound bad with 2 exhaust manifold studs broken & 2 cracked runners (ugh, next job on the list <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />) Ok...ok, I'll stop rambling now, just wanted to share... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/sleeping.gif" alt="" />

Thanks again, folks! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Pics of our G54B rides (mine is dusty & black, wife's is blue):

This is especially a good trick for the turbo motor, but it helps with the carby, too.

Cut the space on the flange between the cylinders to isolate each runner. Cut the web completely in two (and you'll need a couple of sawzall blades, or two whiz wheels).
This relieves some of the strain on the casting.

A regular old hacksaw blade on a reciprocating saw works pretty well too.

Thanks, guys! Was wondering if that trick worked on the carby 2.6 exhaust manifold...I read quite a debate about doing just that on the StarQuestClub board. Am about to do just that to the Conquest ex. manifold as well (wife's also had 2 runner cracks, I already have a replacement for it). Nice! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />