i have a very annoying exaust leak thats been getting worse from the manifold to collector, i brought it in to the shop and they said theres no gaskets its a flange fit, they wanted to cut a perfect exaust system, realign and weld for 90$ an hr....F that. could i just try to tighten it back up? its only the drivers side. suggestions?

 

I've never seen a flange that you couldn't buy a gasket for. Check out summit racing and get some of the nice (expensive) multi layered metal ones. It'll never leak again.

 

If your using cast iron manifolds the surface where the Ypipe collector mounts to could be rusty and pitted causing your leak. It may need to be removed, inspected and resurfaced or replaced..