GlenL

I just did this and I went with the stock-for-year approach. No problemo.

byrdman454

GlenL,
What do you mean? I am not sure if the sealing rings will work with the 16v heads, so did you use the 16v exhaust gaskets or the 85-86 32v sealing rings?

Imo000

Get the gaskets that properly fit your head. That means, go with the 16V gasket and not he 32V (Aluminium O-rings). The 85-86 manifolds WILL perfectly bolt up to the 16V heads. If you decide to use the 32V catalytics, the passenger side will need to be lengthened by about an inch. Any muffler shop can do that for cheap. They need to cut the pipe just bellow the flange and weld a small extension piece in.

This week I’m replacing the cats on my ’85 32V with an H-pipe. I’ve bought a pair of replacement gaskets at my local parts store for $5 each. They match up perfectly to a Mazda with 3 stud gasket. Just take you old gasket in and they can match it up. The gasket is a standard design/dimension so finding a replacement is easy, and cheap.

GlenL

Gaskets like my '80 had originally. Your car uses the same ones.