I finally completed this job. However, I had a hell of a time pressing the donut gasket onto the exhaust manifold flange. I now see why most videos leave this part out—it's deceptively difficult.

There’s very little clearance between the manifold flange and the inlet of the catalytic converter. You can move the mid-pipe sideways a bit, but separating it from the exhaust manifold outlet gives you maybe 8 inches. Even after releasing the mid-pipe from the exhaust hangers, you don’t get much more.

The repair manual says to use a piece of wood between the gasket and hammer to gently tap it in. This does work—but you’ll need a small, precision hammer. I recommend a ball peen style, something without the curved claw on the back, which just gets in the way. You won’t be able to get a full swing, so focus on short, deliberate taps evenly around the gasket.

Here’s the catch: the depth of the flange is longer than the gasket. So even when the top of the gasket is flush with the flange, there's still a gap between the bottom of the gasket and the manifold’s mating surface. You might be tempted to close the gap by just tightening the bolts and springs—do not do this. I can confirm from experience that this will not seat the gasket fully, and you’ll likely end up with an exhaust leak.

After my first leak, I tried again—this time cleaning everything better—and even made a special tool to press the gasket the rest of the way. I used a thin piece of wood, drilled a 2" hole using a Forstner bit, then cut the wood to fit into the tight area. I centered it over the gasket and carefully tapped it with a hefty socket. This allowed the manifold flange to pass through the hole, pressing the gasket in evenly. A smaller socket also helped with tapping in areas where even the hammer couldn’t reach.

Eventually, I got it seated fully. Even then, there may be a very slight visual gap at the bottom edge—probably due to the curvature of the gasket’s shape. That’s normal if everything is seated evenly.

A new OEM donut gasket comes with a coating or treatment that smokes when first installed. I was aware of this with new manifolds, but didn’t expect it from a flange gasket. The smoke scared me at first—I thought I still had a leak. But once the gasket burned off its coating, the smoke disappeared. So if you did everything right, a little smoke is normal and should go away. If it persists, then you probably have a leak.

A final note: when moving the mid pipe around, be very careful to not stretch or tweak the wires of the post cat oxygen sensor.

I know this is a long post, but I hope it helps someone else avoid the struggle I went through. I don’t regret the experience—it was a serious test of patience, precision, and problem-solving. Grateful for all the helpful videos out there that gave me the confidence to tackle it.

Your fancy rubber hanger tool made me jealous! Good thing you had the drive to go back in there and fix the first one 😂… that new hardware took care of if the squeak glad it made you so happy 😂

Great job! Now you can keep your sanity 😂

Great video very helpful

Very good video.

Great video

40 mpg. Great car

8:09 had the same problem with the donut gasket on my Corsa B, it was a bit too tight for the exhaust pipe, impossible to push it on by hand. I had to squeeze the whole donut bit by bit around with water pump pliers until it fit snugly. Still had to hammer it on, and of course I had to remove the exhaust pipe from the car to get it done.

Great job! What is it with parts coming and not fitting perfectly the first time these days. That new hardware looks great!

Great detail video and links. Please include link for flange spring bolts.

Thanks for the amazing video. Unfortunately, though I have the know how to do this I don't have the garage space and it's Winter here in Montreal. I wonder how much a garage would charge me for a jib like this, an hour or so maybe? If it was Summer I'd tackle it for sure.

Kroil is good stuff. I'm going to routinely soak those bolts for a  couple of weeks in hopes of the bolts not breaking.  It looks like the manifold is hard to get off. I'm thinking the manifold will come out without the wiper cowl as someone in another video had took the cowl off lol. My point is to make sure you soak the bolts . I don't want to remove the manifold.

Thanks man this vid was a lifesaver

I'll be doing this soon. I thought I've heard an exhaust noise for a while. The vehicle performance seems fine, but after I hooked up a shop vac to the tail pipe and sprayed soapy water around the area where that donut gasket is, it did bubble up quite a bit. At high speeds, I hear air whishing sounds which I think might be exhaust escaping through that leak. My fuel trims are a little off as well, and being that the gasket is near the A/F ratio sensor, I speculate that it could be reporting incorrect air/fuel ratios to the ECU. Either way, I confirmed the leak and will see what happens after I repair it.

You must live in an area without using salt in the winter.