Finally had some garage time this afternoon and pulled the exhaust from the downpipe back. Found my exhaust leak finally (that the shop supposedly fixed twice). It's the sealing ring between the downpipe and the wastegate pipe. Pain in the butt to get to, but it fell off in three pieces once the pipes were apart. Would you put an exhaust back together with the original sealing ring?

Street brake pads are back on, few other little things and I'll be headed to Vitesse as soon as John is back. Thankfully.

 

I wouldn't reuse any of the crush rings (both styles). They might reseal but do you really want to take it apart again to fix a leaking joint?

 

Are you talking about the crossove-wastegate union? The downpipe is after the turbine.
You'll regain significant spoolup and torque from that repair. You'll be glad you did it.

 

I'll be glad I did it just from the lack of fumes coming in the car! But I know I was having serious issues from this, and I'm not done checking things over. I'm hearing an air leak at low rpm...probably at higher rpm too but I can hear it low. Sounds like a buck-toothed whistle. And boost seemed to just stop at 13, when I've had it set for 16.