Would a leak in the intercooler cause my car to retard timing due to possible knock?
Kinda. If you had a boost leak large enough to affect afr then yes
I'll look most around here are crushed or hobby stock bodies.
the person I bought the header panel from sent one for free. Also turns out the alky pump isn't working now after the hit. I think that might be my issue with the timing. Doesn't it replace fuel with alky? So that would make it just a bit lean. Anyway the pump is like 10 years old so over due on replacement. Intercooler passed pressure test on 20 lbs but still getting new since the bolt hole got tweaked.