I currently have my '80 mustang (3.3) at a repair shop and I'm trying to get some issues with the exhaust sorted out. I had a new muffler put on a little over a week ago and it made a huge difference in the gas mileage. It jumped from 13.3 to 19.2! The muffler looked good on the outside but was shot on the inside. Baffles were loose and a lot of rust fell out of it. I guess it was building up back pressure. Anyway, I brought it back to them to have them look at the rest of the exhaust. It sounded like it had leaks and made a puttering noise under acceleration. We thought that there was some kind of donut gasket on the exhaust manifold that was leaking. It took a lot of effort to get the nuts off as they were reluctant to let go after being on there for 38 years, but they finally did. Much to everyone's surprise, there was no gasket and the part that bolts up to the manifold is some sort of emissions piece, perhaps a catalytic converter of sorts. Not sure what you'd call it. It's shaped like a small pot and there's a wire mesh screen on top of it. I think finding one of these will be next to impossible and even finding a direct fit replacement for the for the other cat won't be easy or cheap. They said if I could find a different manifold for it, say from an older Mustang with a six cylinder engine, they could bend a new pipe for it and eliminate the cats entirely. I told them as long as the car ran all right I was fine with it. I have a six cylinder manifold from a '68 and I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if it would fit on my '80. We have no emissions testing here and I know removing them isn't the greenest thing to do, but I'm getting desperate to figure out a solution for this problem. They've had the car nearly a week and I'd like to get it back. I was driving my '66 Mustang, but the radiator decided to spring a leak, so now I've got that to deal with as well. Had to borrow my friend's pickup so I can get to work.
If anyone can advise me on the exhaust, please let me know. I need to make a decision about what to do with it very soon, ideally sometime tomorrow morning.
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