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- maybe2 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 roadsalt and slush during the winter. But, regardless of that, I'm pretty sure that the new muffler I just put on the caris 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 forjust 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 andoil change this morning,and when she came back home, she raved about howquiet the car now sounds. "I thoughtI 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 soundsjust 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-carillusion will be complete - at least while driving it.