65 230: Exhaust donut or not??

[jayoldschool]

While working on my truck over the summer, I noticed that the manifold to pipe connection was leaking a bit, there was evidence of carbon. No big deal. Got the correct donut in stock. Went to deal with it today. Dropped the pipe, and found NO donut in there. Ok, that is obviously why it was leaking. POs do some crazy things. Slipped the donut in place, went to reinstall pipe. Nope. Studs are too short. Called the parts place, had them send over the OTHER part number. It's the exact same.

Started the research here, and it looks like I'm not the only that has dealt with this...

This thread deals with it, but the pics are missing in post 8 (of course). And, I commented on it, lol
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...ighlight=donut

This guy experienced the exact same thing I'm dealing with (but never updated his thread):
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...ighlight=donut

So, what's the real deal here? Do I just put it back together with no donut? Tight? Or, put in some longer bolts in place of the studs and get the donut in there?