I know its a pos, but i dont have the spare cash to upgrade atm, im putting it back together after trying to replace gaskets from massive exhaust leaks. i went to the parts store and picked up the gasket for connection to the mid pipe. but the holes are off by 1/8 to 1/4 inch. does it take some special gasket. i tried 2 from different brands and stores.

 

That mounts up with the stock exhaust, so it should be the stock exhaust gasket. You can bolt it up without for the time being. Might be a pain to have to tear into it later though, that's understandable.

 

im going up to a miata club meeting tonight, their held at a mazda dealer so i will pick one up from there.

 

so the mazda dealers gasket didnt line up either.

 

This isn't facebook, tell us something we can work with. What didn't line up? wrong bolt pattern? Wrong size? What else did you try?

Take some pictures of the flange, does it look like this picture?

 

sorry, let me go grab a pic real quick.

 

cant find the old gasket, but the holes are about 1/8in off and the actual exhaust hole is about 1/8in in the flow of exhaust.

 

be aware
this one does not work

this one does

 

Almost looks it would fit if you flipped it. When I had a Greddy kit I think the stock piece fit. maybe you could take a picture of it lined up with the exhaust...so we are able to see how it doesn't fit. Also, could it be something weird like the parts counter is giving a gasket for a different year (94+) Miata?

 

the holes in either way you put it on are off by a quarter of an inch. see post date

 

Yes, those are visibly different.

Why not re-use the original. That's what I did. (Or maybe it came with the Greddy kit, can't remember). Metal exhaust gaskets are usually OK for several uses and can be cleaned up with sand paper or emory cloth.

Anyway, looks like Finish Line has the right one:

http://parts.arlingtonmazda.com/prod...52d450%29.html

The key to having a leak free exhaust is to not tighten any of the bolts until ALL bolts are in finger tight. Give it a shake to let things take their natural set and then tighten.

Also, people complain about tightening that particular connection. It's not too hard. Two of the bolts are easily reached through the front left wheel well. The inner bolt is easily reached from below with the mother of all extensions.

 

the one that was on there leaked really bad, i got the right one through the parts store. not leaking now