I bought a Fel Pro intake gasket, #90145(Blue one), and the parts guy told me NOT to use any gasket sealer. Just put it on dry. Any opinions/experiences?
If it's a Printoseal (silicone around the ports) then throw it away.
October 19 2008, 4:50 AM
I can't remember each part number, but those Printoseal gaskets are notorious for leaking and they probably won't last long at all.
If it's a regular blue gasket, then I usually take a RTV on my finger and go around the water ports on both sides. Not a big glob at all, but just about the thickness of a piece of paper.
That's a good gasket. It needs sealant around the water passages for sure. Use what ever your favorite sealant is.
1912 Model T Ford touring Salmon (ugh!)
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1915 Model T Ford Roadster Black
1915 Model T Ford touring Black of course!
1967 Cougar GT 390 Cardinal Red / Black
1968 Cougar GTE 427 Augusta Green / Saddle http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/15029/50071-2
Don't use any intake gasket at all, just RTV (black). Keep the RTV bead uniform and apply both sides of bolt holes. The most important item is to position the manifold with the distributor (or the housing from an old one) before tightening the bolts. I got this advice from an Edelbrock Rep. at one of the part shows and it’s worked well (no leaks at all) for me. Like I said JMHO.
Thats the intake gasket I use. The only place I use any sealant is right at the corner where the intake and heads meet. I will dab a bit of silicone to seal where the cork and blue gasket meet.
missing with your statement " apply both sides of bolt holes" ??Do you skip the intake gasket completely, and use just silicone around each port ?? I have looked at this, but never talked to anybody doing it ...
One thing that scares the crap out of me is RTV being to good
October 20 2008, 8:26 AM
Having actually built my own large aquarium I know the potential strength of silicone. When you think a tiny film of silicone applied on clean glass will hold a six foot long by two foot high fish tank together for decades then you have to imagine that an equally proportioned bead of silicone on heads/intake/block might be a real SOB to tare apart. Ive had gasketed FE Intakes and heads in the past that took some seriouis leverage to pry apart. I'd hate to think a FE intake may require over a thousand pounds of muscle to lift off. When I'm using straight silicone or silicone and gaskets I always use oil or silicone spray on at least one side to make sure it's at least easy to clean or in the worst case possible to open.
The potential big mess comes from somhow having very clean oil free parts that the silicone can get a good hold on. If the silicone bites both surfaces hard I'd see no reason to think it would not be near to an epoxy bond. contaminating the surfaces acts as a mold release agent and the sealing of the surfaces as by a gasket is left intact
This message has been edited by qikbbstang on Oct 20, 2008 10:55 AM
I always use a bead of RTV for the end seals on an intake. On my 302's, I use Felpro blue or Mr. Gasket Ultra Seals and use Permatex Aircraft gasket glue around the water ports on the back side of the gasket. The Permatex sticks the gasket good and comes off easily with Berryman's. The RTV seals up and comes loose from the end rails pretty easy. The main "trick" to sealing an intake IMHO is to install the intake straight down on the gaskets. With a stock FE intake, that could really be a ... challenge.
thinking, and came to the conclusion that I'd never installed an iron intake. I've removed the iron ones a number of times, but the replacement has always been aluminum. And even if the aluminum ones are (relatively) easy to install, it's usually not a problem to get somebody to help hold from the other side. I think it's absolutely necessary to set the manifold straight down with no realignment necessary. Have a third guy putting the diz in place all at the same time is a good idea! Remember that the installation procedure from the shop manual calls for the use of a chain-fall.
KS
? : RE:"Have a third guy putting the diz in place all at the same time is a good idea!"
October 21 2008, 6:15 AM
Rather then screw around with trying to nail home a Diz with a third guy in the way.... Im thinking a bolted down Dummy (Gut-less Dist body) is the way to go. That way the Gut-less Dist body acts as a true allignment guide to set at least one half the intake home --- but obviously you better make sure that Gut-less Dist body is not bound up as you progress through torquing it all down.................so you then thread a loaded dist in and time it
