Front "China wall" sealing issue on SBM

Dale Davies said

Low stress area, so I would JB Weld it. Cleaning the base metal is the important step. DV shows building up port floors with epoxy. He drills a few holes right through and flares it so there is a positive lock on top of the chemical bond. Sure do not want that breaking loose and heading through the intake valve. That area has no fluctuating air flows to dislodge it, just vibrations and expansion and contraction. For what is involved the epoxy will function well as long as the base metal is clean. When you clean it, be ready to apply the epoxy right away. Aluminium gets surface oxidation virtually immediately that restricts adhesion. Again, a low stress area so not as much a problem.

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I think the only way I'd be able to get the existing oxidation layer off is with acid which seems like overkill. I'm just going to spray down the whole thing with Simple Green and give it a good blast with my garden hose nozzle, repeat a few times, carefully spray the spot with brake cleaner (top side of manifold is painted) then dry it with compressed air. I'm going to build up a decent-sized glob of JB then file it down flush with the sealing surface, I figure if it withstands that without coming off it should hold up while on the engine.

@74Scooter I think Right Stuff is what I used last time, it almost worked too well lol... It was a bear getting the manifold to release especially toward the rear of the engine, I'm not looking forward to scraping all the residual stuff off. I might go back to Permatex Ultra Black tbh, never had an issue with that sealing except on this engine which isn't really the fault of the sealant itself anyway.