I have come the end of this chapter in this comedy of errors.

Up front, I'll state that the current guides and instructions for doing a head gasket replacement are far too optimistic in terms of the additional replacement parts that *must* be on hand to make the repair successful.

So.. bottom line here is Klaus was right from the start. Exhaust problem.

The manifold did not seal at the #1 port. The turbo to manifold nuts and the turbo to exhaust nuts also worked loose.

So this happened. It is seriously kinked and warped.


The manifold to head problem was not immediately clear. They were torque up just fine, but the manifold nuts and "what-I-could-get-on-labor-day" manifold studs did not play well together.

Important Lessons
#1 - don't re-use exhaust nuts. Order 20 new ones along with the gaskets.
#2 - expect that all 10 manifold studs will back-out of the head and will be destroyed when you try and remove the original nuts.
#3 - replacement manifold studs must be *fully* threaded.
#4 - DON'T EVER try and remove the short studs from the manifold. They are special locking studs that cannot be removed safely.
#5 - it is MUCH harder to screw up your timing that you might think.