Two very different experiences. Possibly differences with engine mounts
and
gearbox? Ford used to use a differential(rear drive) and Triumph used
front
wheel drive on later models. A bit like Morris, Austin and later, British
Leyland did back then, engine and gearbox as one unit and all of them now
do that.This doesn't explain why a rear drive SS would be working and not
cracking. But I would bet that all the research would have been front
wheel
drive later on.


I did a lot of repairs on 70s cars which had recently had new exhausts, and
then started making jangling noises. They were almost always caused by
exhaust places undoing the clamps holding the exhaust, and pushing the new
one into the clamps without resetting the clamp at the other end where it
joined the gearbox, body, or whatever it was mounted to. The resulting
strain caused the clamps to break, but I hardly ever saw one where the
exhaust itself was failed. The subsequent change to exhausts hanging on
rubber mounts stopped the problem.

Steve