Problems installing new exhaust biscuit-gasket

[2006MoonstoneVibe]

Hey Folks,

Been reading this forum for a few years, good stuff here. Just ran into a problem. My 2006 Vibe began making that leaking exhaust sound last year. Need to fix it now to pass state inspection to renew the registration.

Bought the new exhaust biscuit, new bolts and springs. Removed the old biscuit by prying it off with a screwdriver, but now having a difficult time getting the new one on. All I did to disassemble was to remove the heatshield, unplug the O2 sensor and remove the two springbolts. I was able to push the cat pipe back enough to remove the old biscuit, but not enough room to get hands in there to install the new one. Seems like the new one will take a bit of pressure to slip onto the stub pipe. Do I need to drop the complete exhaust to get in there, or is there some other way of doing this?

Thanks in advance.

2006 Moonstone Vibe, 182K troublefree miles.

[joatmon]

Don't remember how hard it is to fit the gasket, but it's just two more spring bolts to disconnect the cat/mid pipe from the muffler, and they are a lot easy to get to than the ones on the exhaust manifold

[2006MoonstoneVibe]

Thanks for the reply. It was actually easier to drop the whole exhaust than to undo it at the muffler.

Lots of work just to replace an exhaust gasket.

2006 Moonstone Vibe, 182K troublefree miles - - until now.

[2006MoonstoneVibe]

I finally got back to work on the exhaust problem, installed donut gasket but still leaked somewhere in that general area and failed emissions. Got a smoke machine and 30 seconds later found the leak. The only thing holding the pieces together were the heat shields. Thought about welding this myself, but took it to a real expert who said it wouldn't be worth it. Said from the type of separation, it appears that piece has severe metal fatigue. Said a new crack would likely show up soon if it was welded. I don't want to do this manifold remove/install again, crappy job. Took it to another shop, they told me the same thing. They would be happy to weld it, but zero guarantee that it won't crack elsewhere soon.

That said, what's a good replacement manifold? I don't want to pay several hundred dollars for an OEM GM/Toyota part. Anyone have any information about the cast manifolds, like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Toyota-Coro ... tB&vxp=mtr

What kind of performance loss (hp, mpg) can I expect with a cast manifold vs tubular mild steel?

2006 Moonstone Vibe, 182K troublefree miles. Until now.