[joegeidl]

You can gain some additional clearance by loosening the passenger side motor mount and jacking up the engine. My 944 N/A was a major pain in the @ss, I finally ended up removing the studs. The two nut trick works pretty well. A couple months later I had the head rebuilt and YES the exhaust manifold darn near fell out by itself. Head gasket kit was $70.00 from German Auto Parts (GAP).
Well worth it if you need to fix a stud anyway. Torque spec on the head was, 15 foot pounds, then 1/4 turn, then 1/4 more.
I hope this helps.

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944 Joe