I'm about to help a friend remove and replace an intake manifold on a small block, but have a few questions only experience can answer. Any particular brand of gaskets work best? Do the bolts need thread sealer? Any better luck with end gaskets or just silicon sealer? What brand of sealer has worked well? Or perhaps there is a good thread in the archieves you could direct me to. In short we only want to do this once if possible and right now the manifold gasket probably has an oil leak into the head intake ports. Thanks!
-
-
Re: intake manifold
James-----
1) Use GM intake manifold gaskets; you didn't provide the year and engine so I can't give you the part number;
2) Use a non-hardening sealer on all of the bolts and make sure that the bolt threads and cylinder head bolt holes are perfectly clean. Not all of the bolts require sealer, but it can't hurt and if you use it on all of the bolts you can't get it wrong.
3) Use silicone sealer for the block end seals and not the rubber seals that come with the intake gasket kit. The one to use is Permatex Ultra Copper or Ultra Black----your choice.In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Joe Lucia
Joe,local Vette shop has Fel Pro, are these acceptable or are GM the best . BTW its a 63. ThanksComment
-
PS
how do you clean the bolt holes?Comment
-
Re: PS
lacquer thinner on a Qtip does a great job of cleaning out the bolt holes. Then use an air compressor to blow the holes out. Works nicely. If you don't have lacquer thinner, then carb cleaner works fairly well. I also agree with Joe L. about the Ultra Copper; my local engine shop uses this stuff exclusively and I have used it without any difficulty. GaryComment
-
Use Fel Pro
and Ultra Copper ONLY if you don't intend to have your Corvette judged. Otherwise use the GM NOS intake gasket set with the numbered tabs. The seals at the ends of the intake have a tab that says "GM" with a "4" beneath. RTV was just coming into availability in 1962-63 and was VERY expensive. St Louis didn't use it on Corvettes so if RTV is detected in judging, be it copper, black, or clear, you stand to loose a point.
I always lay a VERY thin ring of RTV around the water passages front and rear on both sides of the intake gaskets. Leave the area around the runners clean.
Dale.Comment
-
Re: Use Fel Pro
Dale,
Pardon my ignorance, but if the gasket is painted, what diff does it make whether its FelPro or NOS?Comment
-
Re: intake manifold
I'm a big fan of Fel-Pro gaskets-----I use their Perma-Torque head gaskets exclusively and I've been using their Cork-Lam steel-cored valve covers gaskets exclusively for over 20 years. Their plastic/o-ring composition thermostat housing gasket is as good as it gets. However, for intake manifold gaskets, I think that the stock-type GM gasket is best. This gasket uses a steel core, heat-resistant organic overlay with compressive beads around the intake ports and water passages.
These gaskets are not just available through GM; in fact, GM does not even manufacture them. However, if you use a GM gasket, you know that you are getting the correct type. This type is also manufactured by McCord, Detroit Gasket, Victor-Reinz, and, very likely, Fel-Pro. However, all of these manufacturers may manufacture other types of intake gaskets; Fel-Pro does, for sure.
Most of the aftermarket intake manifold manufacturers recommend the use of stock-type intake manifold gaskets. They have found that these gaskets seal the best of all designs. GM feels that way, too. That's why they've pretty much always used this type of gasket on small block and big block engines. I agree with them both, too.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
-
If Not Having Information
is ignorance then put me down as one of the most ignorant of all.
GM gaskets on the intake (lifter valley ends) have a series of rubber positioning tabs that fit over the rim of the block and position the seal (gasket). Also there's a little tab that sticks out and has the alpha numeric, "GM" and "4" debossed in it. Even painted, the GM 4 is visible as are the positioning tabs. You can't duplicate this with RTV or fel Pro gaskets.
The NOS GM gaskets on the heads also sport a tab just to the left of center that is detectable.
Hope this explains things. We all started out knowing nothing until interacting with those willing to share. I consider that these gifts to me carry an obligation to pass them along to others.
Dale.Comment
Comment