Manifold

[albertgen]

On my 1978 Chevy Custom Deluxe 305 I have had an exhaust fume leak that drove me nuts, the smell..yuk! I had a new muffler and pipes installed. The woman at the muffler shop recommended cutting out the catalytic converter and leaving it out. I thought maybe that's why I had the fumes and was going to order a new cat. Upon checking the manifold, the bolts were loose on the drivers side. Is that my culprit? I am going to install new manifolds, the bolts on the manifold all came out easy but how do you get the ones loose on the Y pipes? Mine are terribly rusted, looks like they molded together? Thanks, Al