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Just a little update. The pipe expander worked like a charm. Gasket fit in the crossover pipe and slid right on to the header pipe with no problems. Thanks again to red.heritage for the tip.
I had the same problem when installing a new exhaust system. Most poeple do it seems.
My solution was an exhaust expander from Harbor Freight. It was less than $10, but it did the job.
THANK YOU! for this. I spent a good part of the day effing up two of those damn gaskets before I decided to come in and search the internet for a solution.
So, on my third trip back to the dealer for a gasket I stopped by Harbor Freight and picked up the medium tailpipe expander. Made the job a snap.
66813-09, that was the part # for crossover gasket on the '09 model. red.heritage, thank you for that advice, I to mangled a gasket on the first go around, never heard of the exhaust expander before. If I only knew yesterday what I know now I wouldn't be waiting 7 - 10 buisness days for dealer to get one in...
Yes, you will easily ***** this gasket up if you do not expand the mouth of the crossover pipe where the new gasket will reside.
You can use a section of pipe with an outside diameter of 1.75 inches..no bigger, no smaller. Cut it any length you want to work with. You then tap this pipe into the end of the crossover a little at a time. Of course the crossover needs to be in a vice or held very tightly while pounding in the pipe with a rubber hammer. Keep working it, taking your time. Do not get in a hurry. You are stretching metal and you need to take it nice and slow. Work the pipe into the mouth of the crossover far enough to where it will consume the gasket when you slip the gasket in the mouth of the crossover. You should be able to slide the gasket into the mouth of the crossover pipe without deforming the gasket and with very little pressure. If you are getting resistance, you have not adequately stretched the pipe. Keep at it.
As one post said above, the mouth of the crossover has already been compressed by the clamp, so that is why you must expand the mouth back to a pre-compressed diameter in order to get the gasket to seat in the mouth of the crossover. There are slits in this end of the crossover, so it's not that hard to get it expanded back to where it needs to be. That harbor freight expander might be a great tool for this, but I had this pipe of the correct diameter so I used it.
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