Does anyone have an exhaust leak under the hood? what is the problem and how much to fix...

some poelpe had the exhaust manifold crack and im not sure if its that... the car has 160,000 m now..

 

i was told today I have the crack..my good mechanic reports his parts dept buddie at the local dealer says its pretty common...i'm in a 96 2.5 with 130k miles..I am also informed the catalitic converter is integrated with the manifold and the dealer wants a whopping $1,000 bucks...my mech. says a lot of people just drive em cracked which is what I am going to do..
I get struts tomorrow and thats my $limit at present..did notice some internet manifold options around 750..doyle

 

take a look at the other thread going on this and in particular the moderators comments