Exhaust Flange Fit

[timday5]

This past weekend, I successfully removed my cracked "ell" riser and old exhaust flange. The old flange was mounted via two studs, not via the flange mounting bolts provided with the MMI exhaust flange I just received.

The new flange fits over the studs, however, the face of the manifold where the flange mounts appears to me uneven, so that the flange will not mount flush with the manifold. There is up to a significant (maybe a little over 1/16") gap between the flange and the manifold.

Do I have any other options besides removing the manifold and having the flange mounting face ground smooth?

[gpd955]

Had a similar problem last week and chose to replace the whole manifold. I assumed it was the original and didn't want to risk not having a "perfect" fit and issues with leaking exhaust.

[Don Moyer]

The back of the manifold is not all that hard. We've been able to smooth out the back of manifolds using a factory fresh (fairly coarse) flat metal file. It also helps to use two exhaust flange gaskets.

Don

[timday5]

Don, thanks. I'm headed over to your catalog page to buy a couple more exhaust flange gaskets now... Do you recommend I leave the old studs in if there's some thread left or pull them and use the bolts?

[Don Moyer]

You'll have to remove the studs to file the end of the manifold, but if they look to be in good condition, I recommend reusing them. Studs tend to be a little friendlier to the threads in the manifold than bolts do.

Don