Got a rather difficult situation... got a 92 GXE Auto with about 104k on it.. at about 95k, had a broken stud on the front side headers.. got it replaced but in the process of drilling out the stud, the mech accidently hit the block... they had to weld on another eye to bolt down the headers after they resurfaced and such.. however, I just recently changed my brakes and after that I began to notice a low toned growl from the car.. checked the manifold on the stock y-pipe this afternoon and determined it's coming from the point where the headers meet.. anyhow, talking with my dad we were wondering whether to just try and get the stock y repaired, replace the Y with a WSP or even considered swapping out the entire engine and tranny, since i'm already running on a partially bootlegged (but i guess secured) front headers.. any suggestions ? even considered trading the car in and getting an SE-R... any sugesstions ? How much longer can I expect out of the car if I replace the Y, swap the eng and tranny ? or is it more worth it to trade and get the SE-R ??? too many questions ! Help !

 

the engine and tranny are the most expensive (and wear prone) parts of the car. replace those guys and the car could theoretically run forever. I've seen dozens of VGs with well over 200k miles on it, so I wouldn't really worry about the manifold stud problem. replace the Y with an aftermarket and keep driving happy.
if/when something else fails, make the decision at that point what you'll do with the car. if you blow the engine, you can buy them from a junkyard for $250-500. trannies are quite a bit more, but still not horrible.