Well some good news for once!! I was able to get the exhaust to fit ok by loosening the slip joint and twisting that piece to a different position that mated better to the downpipe. So honestly it not fitting at first was a blessing in disguise because the downpipe has more clearance than it ever has from the subframe, and the exhaust doesn't bang against the underbody of the car at all, even if I move it a lot. Also, picked up another valve cover gasket today so I put that back together. Here is how the car sits now:

Pretty much everything is done, I just need to put oil in it, connect the steering column, add/burp coolant, and torque the axle nuts. I only had time to put a tad more than an hour on the car today, so this is as far as I got. I may or may not have time in the next few days to get it completed, but I have a feeling I'll force myself to have time
Some other pictures I snapped from yesterday and today:




Even the tiny filter was a tight fit!

This is the clearance I was talking about, tough to get a good picture, but it has a lot more room than ever before: