Best way to check for exhaust leaks?

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The smoke test works.

You can also have a couple of buddies increase pressure in the exhaust by holding thick rags over the tailpipes as the car idles. The increase in pressure can often make leaks quite noticeable even at idle for you as you snoop around the area you suspect is leaking.
 
Picked up a $10 stethoscope from Autozone but I just can't get the probe down near the gasket to tell if it's leaking. It has to actually be in contact with it to hear anything, not proximity.

I will give the rag thing a try one of these days.

I picked up Marvel Mystery Oil, what my father mentioned he would use for the smoke test. Anyone done this before?

I just had the headers put on yesteday, with Stage 8 locking bolts and SCE copper gaskets. Shouldn't be a leak but there is a noticable clicking/whizzing when driving next to walls and stuff for it to echo off of.

As mentioned in my other thread, there were 2 bolts leftover, which shouldnt have been unless Stage 8 put 2 extra by error.
 
Where the flange and primary meet the curve can get in the way of a nut. We had a hard time with some of mine using stock studs and nuts. I could see where the stage 8 lockers would be impossible to get on.
 
Where the flange and primary meet the curve can get in the way of a nut. We had a hard time with some of mine using stock studs and nuts. I could see where the stage 8 lockers would be impossible to get on.

Gotcha, I can kind of understand that looking at a picture of them where the primary gets really close the the flange. Don't see why BBK wouldn't somehow take that into consideration...
 
Well we put some Marvel Mystery Oil in through the vacuum on the plenum today. Definitely got some smoke. It is leaking around the flow tube/muffler flange/clamp and on the driver side I found this...it looks like there is a gap big enough for the oil to seep through, and then drip onto the primary where it heats up and burns off into smoke.

Here is a pic of the rear side of the driver side manifold from under the car. You can see where it drips from, and then runs all the way down the primary.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_0639.jpg

For some reason he used 2 studs in place of my Stage 8 locking bolts, but not on the passenger side.

What do you guys think? Why only right there? Maybe those nuts aren't tight enough?