In my opinion and speaking from experience regarding a split cat and fire on a vee, I wouldn't want anything but the very best welding and good materials to be used for a manifold setup. Its just not worth the risk of 1, having a crack form on a very tricky to fit/remove part, 2 having a part crack/fail and set light to your car (it happens!) and 3, fail and give you carbon monoxide poisoning (both happened to me!). Is it worth getting a manifold and cat removal/replacement? Absolutly in my opinion!!!! I noticed no difference getting rid of the cats in the collector pipe. However, when i removed the first pair of cats it transformed the car. MUCH more eager to rev and picked up much better.