I didn’t actually mean to remove that piece. The bolts and nuts had rusted away, and it fell off while I was hammering the old exhaust loose. I had to cut the remaining bolt shafts from the DPF flange and drill new holes for through-bolts.

You usually don’t lose anything by at least trying to fix something that’s already broken. At worst it’ll just remain broken. Even if I don’t intend to repair it, I’ll still usually tend to disassemble it just to see what it looks like inside - and there’s often a part or two I can scavenge for the “DIY box” in case it comes in handy later. I also don’t worry too much about how pretty the fix is, as long as it works. Also, there’s instructions for almost everything online. Just go for it.