[1beautifuldaughter]

So back in late 2007-early 2008 when I first got my judge, I removed headers and open exhaust and put a more stock appearing and usable exhaust system on it. At the time I think maybe they just came out with the round port repo Ram Air exhaust manifolds I bought through Ames. I think they are made of steel and have a full 2 1/2 in opening, I purchased separately from them a mounting kit which came with cast aluminum flanges, 1-two stud and 1 three stud.I also purchased the 2 1/2in Pypes down pipes. I installed everything and it all worked out OK but I never cared for the way the down pipes sloped down hill toward the back of the car. They then swept back up into the H pipe with 45s.
I tried a couple of times since then over the years to tweak things where I loosened all the clamps and flanges and tried to muscle things up better, and never had any success. So now being winter I got the car up determined to make it nicer, and level and adjust things once and for all.
I always thought that the 45s turning up into the H pipe where tightened a bit turned and holding the down pipes in the wrong position.
What I have found now that I disconnected everything is that the flanges on the manifolds and the bell on the pipes along with the aluminum fastening flanges are all so tight and really dictate the angle of the pipes.
There are signs that they never really sealed well even being tightened to the point where the 2 stud cast flange bent and cracked.

That being said , and I hope its understandable,, My question is.

Does anyone have any experience with these specific parts to the extent that they might know if there have been any fitment issues like mine that have been corrected since 2008?
If I buy another set of Pypes down pipes today maybe they will fit better?
The flange contact area on the exhaust manifolds is very small due to the 2 1/2in opening.
If I try tweaking and just getting a new flange and bolt kit ,is there a sealer or gasket material that I could put on the flanges?
Is there a better steel flange kit of some kind that would work better with pulling the flange in tighter? The aluminum also actually dictates where the angle of the pipe ends up because it is thick and the pipe hits up against it.

I hope this is an understandable story : )

I was going to call Pypes and see if anything has changed since 2008 and what they think the chances are of a new pipe fitting better, but I would expect that they would likely be unable to answer not being able to know all about the manifolds that where produced elsewhere.

Thanks in advance for any helpful hints.