One of the first things I replaced on my car was the exhaust studs (with ARP high strength stainless studs) and reduced hex flange type all metal locking nuts (aka jet nuts) which allows much easier socket access. And no more loose exhaust nuts. Those locking tabs seem ill suited to a high vibration exhaust application.
I also replaced the cylinder head ends of the exhaust pipes to allow using a modern Harley style better exhaust sealing ring, but that's another story, which I think I documented on this forum years ago.
