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Agreed, one of the biggest mistakes someone who's new to wrenching can make is trying to work around another component that's impeding progress because the idea of removing said component seems daunting. If the exhaust is making your life difficult, than remove it... Removing one mid-pipe should take less than 15min if the car is already jacked up. IIRC, there are a total of 5 nuts/bolts to loosen. 3 at the parting flange and 2 clamps.
Take a deep breath, relax and reassess. This is not a big job and is easily within your capability, given that you've gotten this far. I'm betting the dealer would have charged well north of $1000 dollars P&L for this. If you're time is worth $100 an hour, anything under 7.5hrs plus parts makes it worth you while, especially considering that you're learning something in the process...
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