intake gasket is sweating coolant?

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So im wondering if that is oil and it migrated to the water passages and oil residue had mixed with the #2 gasket sealant causing it to separate maybe thats what caused the coolant to sweat out the gasket?
 
So what yall are saying is that possibly oil made its way up through the bolts and soaked the gasket? Only thing on the bolts when i took them out was thread sealant.
What we're sayin is, we don't frikkin know and you need to check it out thoroughly or else you might end up with a threepeat.
 
What we're sayin is, we don't frikkin know and you need to check it out thoroughly or else you might end up with a threepeat.

hey im just askin, this is a new one on me. I havent built engines or put them together so you guys know the little gremlins better than me. I have no explanation why, and i have tried to logically think of all the possibilities. i will check the intake, heads and block with a straight edge tomorrow to confirm
 
hey im just askin, this is a new one on me. I havent built engines or put them together so you guys know the little gremlins better than me. I have no explanation why, and i have tried to logically think of all the possibilities. i will check the intake, heads and block with a straight edge tomorrow to confirm
I understand. I wasn't bein smart. Just sayin that since we're not there we won't know for sure and you're the one whose large and in charge of double and triple checkin everything. At this point, I would be checking the bolt hole depths on ALL those holes making dang sure the bolts aren't bottoming out. Just everything in general about bolting that intake on. I might even LITERALLY get out a magnifying glass. I've done it before and probably will again. Usually find something too. All we're sayin is leave no stone unturned...well.....I mean......unless you wanna do this again. lol
 
Im thinking im going to make a dowel for each corner to guide the intake on and make sure it is centered as good as possible. Me and dad got it super close last time but did have to finesse it a little to get a few of the bolts to start
 
I understand. I wasn't bein smart. Just sayin that since we're not there we won't know for sure and you're the one whose large and in charge of double and triple checkin everything. At this point, I would be checking the bolt hole depths on ALL those holes making dang sure the bolts aren't bottoming out. Just everything in general about bolting that intake on. I might even LITERALLY get out a magnifying glass. I've done it before and probably will again. Usually find something too. All we're sayin is leave no stone unturned...well.....I mean......unless you wanna do this again. lol

Not really! Lol. Although i was quicker taking it apart this time lmao
 
Not really! Lol. Although i was quicker this time lmao
You should see how quick I can RIP the intake off a 351C, 351M, and 400 Ford engines. Like RIGHT quick like. Those intakes are DRY with no water whatsoever through them. The thermostat housing is in the block. Easy peasy intake swap.
 
You should have felt how much my heart sank when i saw the little bit of coolant residue, im like come on! And i have been tedious about checking for coolant the last 2 months since i put it back together.
 
You should have felt how much my heart sank when i saw the little bit of coolant residue, im like come on! And i have been tedious about checking for coolant the last 2 months since i put it back together.
Com'on man! LOL
 
Also fwiw i dont know what brand intake gaskets the engine builder used but they were the same shape as the felpro, were black and seemed like a paper maybe composite gasket, they didnt put any sealant around the water jackets and they had put some red tacky stuff on the head and used some type of red thread sealant on the bolts and it was like 3 or 4 years before i had the tiny weep out of the pass front intake bolt, and i think if they would have put sealant around the water jackets it wouldnt ever have been a issue
 
So what yall are saying is that possibly oil made its way up through the bolts and soaked the gasket? Only thing on the bolts when i took them out was thread sealant.

Seal all the bolt threads with "Aviation Sealer" it's the same product that is used to seal the bolt threads at the water pump where the bolts go into the water jacket, and they don't leak.

And as Stated, the 4 corner bolts need to be shorter than the rest because they are bottoming out in the blind holes before the manifold is tight.

The manifold steps down on the 4 corners so you nee the shorter bolts there.

Not rocket science here.
 
Screw all the intake bolts into the heads before the intake goes on to see where they bottom out.
 
Screw all the intake bolts into the heads before the intake goes on to see where they bottom out.

all the bolts are the same length, the 4 on the outer corners are 1-1/4” deep, the intake flange is about 3/4” thick and the bolts are 1-5/8”
 
all the bolts are the same length, the 4 on the outer corners are 1-1/4” deep, the intake flange is about 3/4” thick and the bolts are 1-5/8”

Just because you measured the blind holes depth with a wire does not mean that the threads have been cut all the way to the bottom of the holes.

They are blind after all and their taps can't cut all the way to the bottom of the blind holes.

Run the 4 corner bolts in by hand and snug with a wrench to see how much of the bolt is sticking up over the head before the intake goes on. If you are at 3/4" it's gonna be a problem.
 
I use the Victor Magnum intake manifold gaskets they're inexpensive and they seal well, nothing against the fel pros I just felt the victors were a little softer and a little more forgiving to imperfect mating surfaces..
 
Ok just a update, i checked the heads, china walls and intake with a straight edge, no noticeable gaps, there was a very slight light gap when i got to the rear of the intake flange where the rear water ports would be, i could barely see light through in a spot but i doubt its even measurable with a feeler guage. The straight edge could also have a variance in it as well. Dry fit the intake on the engine, fit nice against the heads on both sides, no rock in the intake. bolt holes in the heads were about dead center in the holes on the intake, checked with a feeler guage and made sure the intake wasnt touching the china walls, i think i ended up with about .030 of gap between the intake and china wall with no gaskets. I threaded the 4 corner bolts in by hand until they bottomed out. I had about 1/2” from the head to the bottom of the washer on the bolt. The intake flange is just under 3/4” thick so i have about 3/16” of threads to bolt the intake down in the 4 corners not counting the 1/16” gasket. For good measure i added 1/16” thick washers between the bolt and hardened washer on the 4 corner bolts. I cleaned all the bolt holes with some brake cleaner on q tips and got them as clean as i could. Wire wheeled all the bolts clean. Went over the heads, china walls and intake flange with a piece of old red scotch brite and brake cleaner, wiped over all surfaces several times with the brake cleaner, applied a layer of the gasgacinch on the heads and on the head side of the gaskets. Applied a thin wipe of gray rtv around the water ports and then lined the gaskets up with the intake ports and bolt holes and stuck them on, put a good amount of gray rtv on the china walls overlapping onto the intake gaskets, put a thin wipe of rtv on the gaskets around the water ports. Set the intake on and lined up pretty close, had to shift it a little to the pass side to get the holes lined up, put thread sealant on all the bolts and the all threaded in without a problem. Ran them down until they just made contact with the intake, tightened the intake using the recommended sequence and went over them about 5 or 6 times tightening them gradually, gonna let it sit untill tomorrow night and then fill it with coolant, and cross my fingers. Have to redo the valve cover gaskets tomorrow, think im going to clearance the valve covers some more as well

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Ok just a update, i checked the heads, china walls and intake with a straight edge, no noticeable gaps, there was a very slight light gap when i got to the rear of the intake flange where the rear water ports would be, i could barely see light through in a spot but i doubt its even measurable with a feeler guage. The straight edge could also have a variance in it as well. Dry fit the intake on the engine, fit nice against the heads on both sides, no rock in the intake. bolt holes in the heads were about dead center in the holes on the intake, checked with a feeler guage and made sure the intake wasnt touching the china walls, i think i ended up with about .030 of gap between the intake and china wall with no gaskets. I threaded the 4 corner bolts in by hand until they bottomed out. I had about 1/2” from the head to the bottom of the washer on the bolt. The intake flange is just under 3/4” thick so i have about 3/16” of threads to bolt the intake down in the 4 corners not counting the 1/16” gasket. For good measure i added 1/16” thick washers between the bolt and hardened washer on the 4 corner bolts. I cleaned all the bolt holes with some brake cleaner on q tips and got them as clean as i could. Wire wheeled all the bolts clean. Went over the heads, china walls and intake flange with a piece of old red scotch brite and brake cleaner, wiped over all surfaces several times with the brake cleaner, applied a layer of the gasgacinch on the heads and on the head side of the gaskets. Applied a thin wipe of gray rtv around the water ports and then lined the gaskets up with the intake ports and bolt holes and stuck them on, put a good amount of gray rtv on the china walls overlapping onto the intake gaskets, put a thin wipe of rtv on the gaskets around the water ports. Set the intake on and lined up pretty close, had to shift it a little to the pass side to get the holes lined up, put thread sealant on all the bolts and the all threaded in without a problem. Ran them down until they just made contact with the intake, tightened the intake using the recommended sequence and went over them about 5 or 6 times tightening them gradually, gonna let it sit untill tomorrow night and then fill it with coolant, and cross my fingers. Have to redo the valve cover gaskets tomorrow, think im going to clearance the valve covers some more as well

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Goog Job, that will work.

Having some fun now.

That is when it gets good when you overcome the obstacles.

Climb that Mountain
 
Can we have a moment of silence and positive thoughts for a good seal! LOL good luck! I go about four to one on my top end for every four times I put it back together I'll have one that will be seeping a little something somewhereover time. I show my car so it's frustrating. But at least it's not a main seal.
 
The Seal is the Deal

This 360 and the Weiand intake sealed good. Edelbrock Gaskets. RTV at the water jacket ports and the China Wall, Aviation Sealer on the bolt threads.

Sending good Vibes forward for a good seal.

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Correct length bolts also.
 
Every time I've tried using sealer (other than the gasket itself) on an intake gasket set besides at the corners where the seperate pieces of gasket lay, I've had to redo the job. I also have never had success using RTV only as the intake to China wall sealant.
The only exception is using something like Hi Tack or indian head type sealer on the head surface only.
Otherwise I always use the included China wall gaskets and ONLY use RTV in the corners.

The last time I ran into this (and why I always do my own assembly) was on the 408 my son had built for his ramcharger. It ran like ****, couldn't get any vacuum nor could have get the carb to respond to any adjustments, we sprayed around the intake and the motor ran worse, wanted to die when we sprayed around the head to intake seam. Once I pulled the intake and resealed it the right way then everything was good. There are many things that the Chevy boys do that don't work on our engines sorry.
 
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