I’ve always hated putting the exhaust on. It’s a pain to get the gaskets in and the holes lined up. But after years and 422 hours I came up with a better sequence.
Get the exhaust in position and put in 1 front bolt loosely, no gasket. Get the rear bottom bolt in loosely, through the gasket, but with the gasket hanging down. Pivot the gasket into place and put the top rear bolt in loosely. Next put the other front bolt in loosely. Right now the front bolts are providing alignment. Snug up the aft bolts. This makes the exhaust a little looser up front. Take out the bottom bolt, and use a flat blade screwdriver to pry the exhaust away from the head just enough to get the gasket lined up with the bolt hole. Put the bottom bolt back in loosely with the gasket hanging down. Remove the top bolt. Use the screwdriver again to make room to pivot the gasket around to line up with the top bolt hole. At the end there isn’t enough room for the screwdriver to pry, but it’s useful to push the edge of the gasket to get it in place. Put in the top bolt, snug up both front bolts, then torque everything.
My front bolts are allens and that’s a lot easier to work with when the baffle is on.
The turbo guys have my condolences.
