exhaust leak
 

i have a 2004 accord v6. my exhaust bottomed out and banged a rock on dirt driveway. Now there is a leak on the front header pipe. It seems to be leaking about halfway up to the front of the motor at the union. my questions are. Is there a gasket that I can put in between the union? Do I have to replace the complete header pipe? Does anyone out here have a used one? and. What kind of a nightmare is this job?
Thanks for your help

You might want to take your car to a good muffler shop, they might be able to either weld in a patch, or use a clamp on type joint. Both of these options assume the rest of the exhaust plumbing in that area is in decent shape.

There are gaskets at the bolted flanges. But check for more damage from the rock. Dented pipe? Some bracket pulled out of place? How bad is the corrosion?

It is leaking from the flange. when I crawled under and sprayed PB blaster on the studs I noticed there arnt any nuts on the studs. I cant really see if it is bolted from the top down. I bought a metal gasket for the flange. I may try to thread on some nuts and crank it tight and see if that helps. I am a little baffled by it not having any nuts on the studs maybe they rusted away??
The rest of the exhaust is in great shape. it was quiet until I bottomed out on the rock. there is a little dent and a scrape but no leak on that spot.

All set. I first threaded on (3) 13mm nuts on the studs and tightened them down. Still no change. I ended up taking out the passengers side electric fan and the radiator over flow. This let me access the 4 nuts on the Cat converter. It came off with no trouble. I left both 02 sensors connected. I had just enough room to move the cat out of the way and access the old gasket. The gasket is metal and was crushed. I took a small pick and was able to get it out in pieces. I put a bead of copper gasket sealant on both sides of the new gasket and put it in. I also put a bead on both sides of the gasket on the top of the Cat that bolts to the exhaust manifold. (im not sure if I really needed the copper sealant but what the hell) I snugged the top and put the (3) 13mm nuts on the studs of the flange and tightened them down. I fired it up real quick and it is nice and quiet. I will let the sealant set up over night. Whole thing took about 1-1/2 hours.