The pan on my 69 vert was there when I bought it. The car could even be stiffer so get the pan. I just bought the long branch manifolds from ames and went to a custom shop for a price (I like to go to shops that race cars, they seem to like muscle cars) $400-$500 depending on if the x-pipe will fit, h-pipe is cheaper. That's probably less than you can buy the parts for from catalog. Pete