Installing exhaust flex pipe to reduce vibration on manifold?

[Christian Doerk]

After checking my Fleetwood for the upcoming season and our Cadillac Club meeting in May unfortunately I found three!! 1 to 1 ½ inch cracks in my RH exhaust manifold. They currently are not very large and it seems to be quite new. As we all know they are hard to get in 'untcracked' condition .

I'm currently looking for a good one, so if somebody knows somebody who has one for sale, I would be very happy.

Now I'm thinking about to install a short exhaust flex pipe between the RH manifold and the Y-connection of the exhaust. at the bottom to reduce the vibrations and tension when the exhaust pipe expands when heated up. Of course the flex pipe shouldn't be too flexible, because the first part of the exhaust and the middle muffler is hold on it place by nothing else, except the manifolds.

Any recommendations about my idea? Did anyone out here already installed a exhaust flex pipe?
Looking forward for this discussion.

[Michael Long]

I used a flex coupler on mine when I changed the engine to a 472 with custom dual exhaust.  New cars use a flex coupler for the very reason you discussed- to reduce vibration between the engine and exhaust system. There are literally dozens of lengths and diameters. I went with something like this:

[Christian Doerk]

Yes, I'm planning to use the exact same coupler of your picture.