Hello everyone, I have a 2010 ford escape v6 that had a leaking catalytic converter & resonator. I bought an aftermarket cat to replace it along with some flexpipe from autozone (The kind with the steel pipes on each end and mesh in the middle not the bendable aluminum tube). The cat came with a doughnut gasket but after hooking everything up and double checking, the exhaust is still leaking right at the two flanges that meet at the front of the cat. Should I just cut the flanges off and clamp another pipe on there? I'm trying to avoid cutting as I've never used a reciprocating saw before. Should I try another doughnut gasket? I also am unsure if I am missing anything else like another gasket in front of the doughnut, everything was basically disintegrated because I live in middle of nowhere Pennsylvania with all the salt on the roads during the winter. I had to pick the old dougnuts out with a screwdriver lol.

I honestly just need it to pass inspection and I don't really care after that

Thanks for the help everyone.