Exhaust system replacement parts

Our car has an exhaust leak near the front of the car.  I haven't nailed down exactly where the leak is because I'd like to wait for the weather to warm a bit before I get under the car.  (Maybe the leak has something to do with that piece of mystery sheet metal I posted about earlier.)

Anyway, I've looked at the "usual suspects" Honda online retailers and I think the OEM replacement exhaust parts are pretty expensive, so I'm looking for alternatives.

Naturally I'd like to buy parts that are going to last for the life of the car, so I'm thinking that maybe SS is the way to go.  As each section of the exhaust system fails, I'd get a SS replacement for it.  In a few more years the entire system would be SS.

It's been a number of years since any exhaust work was done to the car, so, because of the usually-difficult work involved in separating and replacing individual exhaust-system components while working under a jacked-up car, I'm also considering replacing the entier system in one shot.  You know - do it, and forget it forever.

What do you think of SS exhaust system parts and do you have any recommendations for a part source? 

I'm a practical cheapskate, so is there any compelling reason to replace the OEM cast iron exahaust manifold? (I sincerely doubt if the leak is there.) Are SS replacement parts available from the cast iron mainifold back?

Will SS parts indeed last forever in a place where very little road salt is used?

Thanks for the information.
 
BTW, what is a "test pipe"?  Is it some kind of catalytic converter replacement?

You can get the whole exhaust, from engine back in SS. As far as durability..SS beats out cast iron, and is also generally lighter. Forever is subjective too...let's just say the SS will last longer than the car it's attached to. And a test pipe is simple a straight piece of pipe that goes in the place of the catalytic converter, and they are not road legal, even in states without emissions tests. Although unless a cop crawls under your car you probably won't be found out.

Thanks for the information.  I'll bet a replacement cat would be pretty pricey, so I figured that the "test pipe" may have been for that purpose.

Because I think the cast iron exhaust manifold will last forever, and it's got the O2 sensor on there already, etc., I'd like to leave the manifold in place and go back from there in stainless.

In your typical "catback" SS exhaust system, will the SS pipe that normally attaches to the SS exhaust header also fit on the outlet flange of the OEM cast iron manifold?  If not, is a SS pipe that WILL fit the OEM manifold's outlet flange available?

I know the following is probably impossible, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I understand that most, if not all, of these aftermarket SS systems are intended to improve flow and, because of that, make the car's exhaust louder.  My wife and I would actually like to have an exhaust system that is, if possible, even quieter than the OEM.  Is this too much to ask?  If it is, can SS parts at least be had which make the exhaust system about as quiet as the OEM?

Thanks.

Erm...very few aftermarket parts are more quiet than OEM. Try Apexi WS2 mufflers

Unfortunately better flow and quieter sound are mutually exclusive for the most part. Now some systems may be able to provide near OEM sound levels with a small amount of flow increase. Now since catback systems, SS or otherwise, are designed to attach to the cat, they won't have the length to attach to the exhaust manifold directly without that test pipe or a cat. Most cats though have the same type of flange on the inlet and outlet ports..so you could attach the exhaust system to the manifold, providing you found a way to make up for the foot or so of length in place of the cat.

Here's what I think our Accord's exhaust system looks like:

The piece I think really has to be replaced is pointed to by the red arrow - "pipe1" that attaches to the OEM exhaust minifold.  I would like to replace the OEM plain steel unit with an aftermarket in SS, but I'm not sure that the pipe1 that you see in typical SS header/pipe1 combo units will fit my cast iron manifold.  It looks to me that most of these SS units have an elongated two-pipe flange where they would attach to the SS header and I'm pretty sure our car has one larger pipe flange where pipe1 attaches to the OEM cast iron manifold.
 
I'd really rather not replace the OEM manifold with a SS header, so I guess I may be out of luck to replace pipe1 with SS.

that first part is actually part of the exahust manifold. the stock system and many aftermarket systems are 2 piece. both parts from the engine to the cat are part of the exhaust manifold. Aftermarket catback systems, SS or otherwise only include the brown and green parts. IF you wish to replace the first part with an SS component, you'll have to get a complete SS exhaust header setup or have one custom made for you.

Thanks for the information.
 
Honda refers to that first pipe (red arrow) as "pipe A, Ex."  They show the exahust maniforld on a separate page, along with the heat shield, brackets, and even the O2 sensor:
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Accord&catcgry2=1992&catcgry3=4DR+DX&catcgry4=4AT&catcgry5=EXHAUST+MANIFOLD+(1)&vinsrch=yes
 
Considering Majestic's price of $198 US for pipe A, I'll bet that the local cost of pipe A alone is going to be at least $250 - $300 CAD - not that much less than the cost of a complete new OBX SS system.  Of course aftermarket places will undoubtedly have that pipe for a whole lot less money, but it makes me stop and think anyway.
 
So I'm in a bit of a quandry about exactly how I should proceed on this job.  Hopefully, the small leak I have at this point doesn't soon become a full-blown blah, blah, blah, blah before I have time to fully investigate the situation under the car and choose the sanest course of action for the long term. 
 
Right now it's snowing here and there's a small pond of super-dirty water on our concrete floor right under the car that's accumulated there during this year's long winter of eternity, so this situation doesn't get me too anxious to immediately crawl under our car.

The Honda parts manuals would show them as seperate pieces, since they technically are. But any aftermarket purchase products, OEM or otherwise will include both parts as the 'exhaust header'. You can get an SS setup that includes both pieces and will bolt right up in 45min for anywhere $100 to $500 depending on brand name. All you'll have to do is get a new gasket for the manifold and reuse the old O2 sensor. Here is an example:
http://www.aempower.com/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=238
 
As you can see it is technically 2 pieces, and is the exhaust manifold you showed as well as the "Pipe A" and includes the fitting for the O2 sensor, and will bolt right up to your cat.

I think the reason that the aftermarket places include that second section as part of the "header" is that it still has two tubes for part of it's length. 
 
In the case of the OEM manifold, its one-hole exit flange is for the attachment of a single-tube part that Honda calls "pipe A, Ex."  (I assume that "Ex." is an abbreviation for "Exhaust", but I might be wrong on that.) 
 
I guess what the part is ultimately called depends on whether a single-tube (for its entire length) conduit can reasonably be referred to as a "header" or "manifold". 
 
Personally, as it has been referred to in every application I've ever heard of, I think the term "pipe", or even "tube",  is more appropriate in the case of a single tube.  Because it at least starts out with two tubes, the term "header" could be applied to those SS units. 
 
When you think about it, what's the difference between the terms "header" and "manifold"?  Is it that a "manifold" is a single-piece of metal having several separate channels, while a "header" is several separate pieces of tubing that are welded to each other or to a common flange?  If that is the case, then I think it would be inappropriate to call the single-tube part either a "header" or a "manifold".  
 
Thankfully, as Forrest Gump declared on several occasions, "that's all I've got to say about that".
 
I have a couple of other questions, though.
 
1. The OEM cast iron manifold on our car is an extremely beefy, heavy unit.  I wonder if the exhaust noise is dampened by the mass of the manifold, vs the probably much ligher, thinner, SS header.  In short, will the header buy itself  be noiser than the cast iron manifold?
 
2. What about the heat shielding that's on the OEM manifold - can it easily be installed on the new SS header?  Is it necessary to have shielding on the header at all?

Well my 92 EX OEM exhaust system was two pipe just like the aftermarket, albeit cast iron, beefy, and not highly tuned. Maybe LX is different.
 
The amount of sound dampening offered by the cast iron vs. SS is minimal. The amount of noise made by other components and the engine itself more than over powers the sound of the exhaust flowing through the manifold.
 
As for the heat shield, very few aftermarket pieces allow it to be reattached, since it would hide the manifold from very and one of the reasons for the aftermarket system is visual looks. You could have a shop fabricate mounting points on your aftermarket system if you wanted to reattach the heat shield. The heat shield does prevent you from heat soaking the radiator and other parts while the vehicle is stationary, but the amount of increase you'll see in engine temps is very minor, and will go unnoticed, unless your car has cooling issues already for some other reason.
 
The terms manifold and header are interchangable in these situations. By definition a manifold is a component used to join two or more other components. The use of the term header is because the component is at the 'head' of that system, in this case exhaust. So both use of the terms are correct in reference to this part.

Well, I was way off on the part of the exhaust system that had a hole in it.  The pretty big hole was actually on the "pipe" part of the muffler/pipe unit - maybe 2 inches from the flange, just before it makes it's first turn toward the integral muffler. 
 
The hole was quite close to the front of the rear tire.  I think the pipe rotted because it must be getting constantly splashed with road salt and slush during the winter.  But, regardless of that, I'm pretty sure that the new muffler I just put on the car is only the third muffler that's ever been on the car.  That means that the first two mufflers lasted 7.5 years each.  Not bad.
 
I bought a regular aftermarket (Canadian Tire) part for just under $80, replaced the gasket and bolts, and I'm now good to go. 
 
While I was under there, I also changed the oil - as usual, Mobil 1, 10w 30.
 
My wife was the first person to drive it today after the muffler and oil change this morning, and when she came back home, she raved about how quiet  the car now sounds.  "I thought I was driving a new car", she said. 
 
Well, I just took it for a test drive, and, sure enough, that's the first thought I had, too.  It sounds just like when it was new (as "quiet" as a 4-cyl Honda can be), and I'm very pleased with that.  Combined with all the suspension/steering work I did last year, the car really does drive like a new car, too.  All we need now is a new windshield and the new-car illusion will be complete - at least while driving it.