get it?
I removed the whole exhaust system (or, at least, what was left of it), and decided to make sure it was really fixed. The front section was a little misshapen from dragging along the ground, so I hammered it out and then, using a block of wood, hammered it into the rear section. Once it was pretty firmly seated, I took a u-bolt clamp and torqued it down until I thought something was about to shear. That seemed to do the trick. I threaded that back through and connected the flex pipe in the front to the manifold, again with the torque. Should be good now! (famous last words).