Some years ago I took the plunge (so to speak) and cut the 4 pipe section of my CSC/Ansa exhaust into two parts and had a local engineering firm fabricate flanges which were welded onto the cut pipes. I've attached photos of the modification below. That gave me the headache of how to seal those flanges, which I only partly solved by the use of exhaust paste. Frankly, I'm not a fan as it's awkward to apply and doesn't really seem to work that well anyway.
So I turned to eBay (as usual) and started searching for exhaust gasket material. I bought some chunky looking metallised gasket sheet but found that it's almost impossible to cut into any kind of accurate shape. It's very, very tough and is beyond the scope of tools I have at my disposal. I've made a reasonably accurate template out of cardboard to work from, but I think I need a more compliant and workable material to transfer it to. The 7mm punch I have that easily cut out the bolt holes in the cardboard template just makes a little dent in the gasket material.
So does anyone know of a gasket material that will withstand exhaust temperatures, but is also workable with readily available hand and/or power tools? That joint definitely needs a gasket, and due to the one-off nature of the flange, I will have to make it myself, it seems.
