Exhaust/Exhaaut Manifold

[PH4]

Going down a corrugated dirt road on Sunday all of a sudden either the exhaust or exhaust manifold must have cracked. Exhaust seems to be coming from the area where the two connect. Real loud with a loss of power but otherwise engine seems fine to crank and idle plus no fluids leaking. My questions are A) is this a common occurence B) how difficult to replace exhaust manifold if needed and C) should I replace with headers and if so any suggestions or experience with headers. I do not want it to have a loud exhaust note and would just use headers to squeeze more power out of engine if worth it. Thoughts and/or experience? Thank you.

[daveb]

A: Yes
B: Not difficult unles syou break a bolt. "Two wrench" job for an experienced mechanic, three or four for a newbie.
C: Keep it stock. The header won't do anything without intake and cam modifications to take advatage of the better breathing.
D: Crawl underneath and see if all the nuts are tight.

rgrds
dave

Going down a corrugated dirt road on Sunday all of a sudden either the exhaust or exhaust manifold must have cracked. Exhaust seems to be coming from the area where the two connect. Real loud with a loss of power but otherwise engine seems fine to crank and idle plus no fluids leaking. My questions are A) is this a common occurence B) how difficult to replace exhaust manifold if needed and C) should I replace with headers and if so any suggestions or experience with headers. I do not want it to have a loud exhaust note and would just use headers to squeeze more power out of engine if worth it. Thoughts and/or experience? Thank you.