Cracked exhaust manifold, etc.

[Beachtruck]

I'm going to look at a stock truck for sale with a cracked exhaust manifold. Are replacement manifolds hard to find? Would it hurt the 230 engine to drive it with the bad manifold? Should I be looking for the cause of the crack or is this common on these engines?

Are replacement rocker panels available?

Is there anything in particular I should check closely? Supposedly everything is original and works.

Thanks

[johnny rezny]

I put one I had on E BAY hate to sell but its not doing me any good sitting in that box

[brute4c]

The manifolds do like to crack. If one has a good welder around and does the right prep and followup, they can be welded succesfully. Check this thread:
http://m715zone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9457

It has great info about welding.

If you have an uncracked manifold, this is the ticket to preventing future craacks:
http://m715zone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8881

[Beachtruck]

Thanks for the info Brute