Trouble reconnecting downpipe

I'm trying to reconnect the downpipe to the turbo on my ALH after swapping out the cylinder head, but I can't make the holes line up with the turbo studs. Lots of manhandling the flex pipe and I've even tried lowering the engine again to see if the angles work better, but dice.

Any tips? I didn't anticipate this being the most difficult part of the job.

Pretty straight forward. No tips or tricks. Not sure why you would be struggling. There is more than enough play for it to go on easily.

Make sure one of the studs isn't bent.

dweisel

Is the turbo properly bolted to the head?

Turbo stayed attached to the exhaust manifold and came off as one. Installation back on the head went smoothly, so there shouldn't be an issue there.

I ended up loosening the exhaust bracket further back to get a little more movement in the downpipe. This finally allowed me to get the studs into the holes, but it still isn't a nice fit.

Maybe the downpipe got bent out of position a bit when I was removing the head? Seems unlikely.

Ok, I'm an idiot.

It wasn't until I tried to install the dogbone mount that I realized the lip of the transmission was hung up on the sway bay. Pushed the engine away from the firewall and now it swings freely, like it should.

3 hours of my life I was I had back.

Sometimes you just need to walk away from a problem. Come back later and it usually helps for some reason.

Glad you got it sorted out.

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only idiot around here Nice to have a clean resolution.