126 Intake Manifold Leak

[Theurig]

I just recently discovered I have an air leak under the intake manifold. Here is my question: I had a rough idle which is now very rare and in the form of a miss, thanks to a a really good merc tech who adjusted the timing,the CO and a few other things.I need to R & R under the intake infold to really get rid of the miss and the slight hesitation when accelerating. My question is how long can I get away with driving it like this, and what are the consequences. I was quoted at $475.