Update-
Here are the pictures I promised, so everyone knows exactly what's up. The pipe has surface rust only, no dents.
Also- I forgot, when I first built this engine, one of the case stud holes was tapped to some wierdo size, so bobby costello and I time-serted it to an m6. It's been rock solid for a year and a half, and is not the stud that's currently loose. I just want all the details out there so there's no bad blud. Go for pics!