My 1978 Lincoln Town Car 460 developed a bad exhaust manifold leak on the left side, starting almost two weeks ago when driving on the freeway, which is where it gets the worst.
The only time it quiets down is when the motor is already hot and I'm just driving through town 40 mph and below, all other times it's very loud and annoying, sometimes both sides start leaking in an effort lesser the leak on one side, though it just makes it worse causing a massive loss in power and MPG.
I got a new gasket for it and I'm going to try and install it the is weekend, though I've heard the manifold bolts are subject to break off, mine are not rusty in the slightest as it's a low mileage motor, so hopefully it won't be a problem to get them off with a large ratchet or air drill.
I want to know if there's anything besides the things I already know about that I should be careful with when doing this procedure, I'm not going to pay a mechanic $100 just to tell me they broke the bolts and they're not liable so I have to pay them more money just to get my car back.
The right side exhaust manifold has a heat shield and I heard those can cause the exhaust manifolds to crack, should I take it off or leave it?
Heck I'd remove the heat shield but yeah getting those old things off can be Hades. I would soak them overnight with WD-40 and then maybe use a little heat from a torch before attempting to take it off but realize being that old things off and are going to break off and it's not a damn thing you can do about it other than being really careful trying to tag them off
When you get them off, check the manifolds for cracks, as new gaskets won't solve the problem.
