Hello i'm new to these forums just have a quick question for you neon experts out there..

So i'm in the process of rebuilding my 1997 Plymouth Neon DOHC 2.0L and i'm at the point of attaching the exhaust back up again and recently bought these headers because my old one had a crack in it:
http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-Solutio.../dp/B000C17H3K

So my problem is this i'm trying to connect it with a new donut that i had to also replace but once I tighten everything up there is a maybe 3 inch gap between the manifold and the pipe.

It seems like the donut isn't the right size it doesn't go on all the way on the pipe I bought the new donut at Napa so i'm sure it's the right one but doesn't seem like it..

Hopefully someone has had this problem before..

Oh also how much oil should I expect to put in my newly rebuilt engine, and is there a "break in" time for a new engine as well.

Any help would be appreciated thanks

 

first off thats just a stock exhaust manifold or a stock replacement... as for why its not fitting i'm not sure why it wouldn't just not sure why you would have wasted the money on a stock exhaust manifold when you could have gotten a nice aftermarket header and gained a lil bit of performance...

 

Thanks for the response, the reason I did buy a stock manifold is because I have a pretty much stock engine and it's automatic...

Going to just sell it once it's running again and try to find a manual neon

But anyways back to my issues, I'm still having trouble with the stupid exhaust but I'm just going to try to force the donut around the pipe if that does not work back to napa I go to find another donut lol..

 

Good excuse for a header!

 

its kinda hard to help with the issue without pictures almost to see what the exact issue but i guess yeah try to make it work... and selling the auto to get a manual neon is deff a great idea lol....

 

Ok first off, if you damaged the donut get a new one, assuming the cat/downpipe pipe is the stock or OEM. plac ethe donut around that. The bolt the manifold to it. It may be tough to bolt the springs in there so expect trouble(another person can help a lot). After you get that all the way tight bolt the manifold to head, its so much easier to bolt the manifold to the head then having it attaching and bolting the down pipe into it.

PS: Is the donut a metal wire(or "foil" covered), cause my first one didn't seem to fit around the pipe either and I damaged it. you may have to flare the sides a tiny bit or something to get it on but be careful it damages easily.