Almost done - Exhaust question

[CoBeerToad]

Had a hard time attempting to put on the connector pipes. After I gave up and cleaned up for the day I had the idea of putting the connector pipes on before mounting the muffler. Does this sound like the best strategy before I try again tomorrow?

Also, one of my connector pipes has a slight crack. Incredibly slight. Very difficult to see. I checked a couple places and saw that that part cost $642. That is way out of the question right now. Is this price right and if so, is there any type of epoxy or something I can put on it to at least prevent it from getting worse.