[Spridgets] A couple of exhausting questions

[David Ambrose]

First, a little background:
My son's '70 Midget developed an exhaust leak. After a bit of poking 
around, we found it at the junction between the exhaust manifold and the 
down pipe. A little further poking around revealed the lack of any 
bracing for that pipe, hence the leak. Both the engine bracket and strap 
were missing.

We fabricated a replacement brace, and after congratulating ourselves 
for mechanical prowess, good character and general cleverness, we went 
to replace the donut seal. First two flange bolts came out fine, the 
third one, not so much. Broke off flush.

My neighborhood machine shop was more than happy to trade an official 
portrait of Andrew Jackson for an empty hole. They also put helicoils in 
all the holes because they didn't like the way they looked. These guys 
are now some of my favorite people.

We're ready for reassembly, but have a few questions:

 1. The parts catalog shows studs in the manifold. How long should they be?
 2. Should we use high strength brass nuts to bolt down the flange?
 3. should we use copper gasket dressing on the intake/exhaust manifold
    gasket?

Cheers,
Dave Ambrose