On gaskets
I gotta ring in the topic a little bit more, since I'm lost and need some answers on gaskets.
Racing Beat's cat-back exhaust system is of course at a wider inner diameter (2.375" vs OEM 2.25"), which means that OEM gaskets won't fit too well. Way back when I was installing the gaskets sent with the system, I had a hell of a time fitting them between the pipes.
These are the gaskets sent:
http://www.racingbeat.com/Protege/Cat-Back-Exhausts/56302.1.html
I replaced one of them today, and it has godawful uneven wear:
The pipes have this sort of circular indentation around the exhaust port, which I assumed would be the location for the gasket. It did not fit in there, and might as well be part of my problem. See, I assumed that the gasket would fit in the indentation, but it seems much more of the case that they sit flush with the exhaust port.
A crude illustration:
I have no clue what sort of gasket I should buy for this. In my build thread, I just explained that I tried a traditional flange gasket that seats between the midpipe and resonator, but it was an awkward fit and is still leaking air.
Am I just dumb? I've been looking all over for what type of gaskets I should use on this system, and have found absolutely zero results. Seems like I'm the only person with this problem.