Brought low by heat risers

Assembly montage!

Bolting on the new heater boxes

Added the cylinder cover tins

Outer and front tins

Bolt on intake headers; Hammer on muffler and bolt to heat risers

Checking the fan shroud for fit against the other tins

The intake manifold I bought does not match the muffler. I bolted down one side and was dismayed by the new coin slot between the muffler and the heat riser tube

 The internet told me i could heat it up and pound it flat and / or use multiple gaskets. As you can see by the charring above, my propane torch only gets hot enough to ugly up the finish, not relax the metal. Cue several months of frustration and disillusionment and stalling.

I finally took it to my friendly neighborhood VW guru. He gave me the reassuring pep talk i needed. Brute force, multiple gaskets, and maybe a torch *is* normal. I was sure I was doing it wrong or had a bad part. Thanks Sam!

I finally got it to seat by wedging a screw driver in the bolt hole, using that to lever it place, then clamping it down with vice grips. That and 2 gaskets gave me a nice seal.

All of the external reassembly is done, so I got it back under the car.

 Tomorrow....lift, thread wires and bolt on the engine!