Intake manifold pulling oil

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Phreakish said:
there are multiple ways to check the interface of the intake and head. My favorite I've read about but never tried was to use small Lead shot between the head and intake. Torque it, then measure the crushed thickness. Small diameter Lead solder wire could probably also be used. Calipers or a micrometer will be necessary to check for the amount of taper.
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a twist of solder is commonly used to check the squish gap on performance 2T engines. using that same approach here to check the clearance would be easy to employ and could potentially pin point something that was overlooked or a problem area.

some cheap solder and some calipers and you're in the game.
 
How are you guys getting a feeler gauge at the bottom of the intake? Are you gauging it at the front bottom around the coolant passage? Wasn’t sure where to try it

I will try the solder trick also, do I torque it down with gaskets installed? Or leave them off and try?
 
Screamin demon72 said:
How are you guys getting a feeler gauge at the bottom of the intake? Are you gauging it at the front bottom around the coolant passage? Wasn’t sure where to try it

I will try the solder trick also, do I torque it down with gaskets installed? Or leave them off and try?
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Leave them off, and yes - at the front/rear near the water ports. If it's consistent, then it'll show up there pretty well. You can also place the manifold on the engine futher forward or back and get under the manifold to check a little deeper.
The solder trick will get you a better representation. I would lay a strip near the two inner ports on either side - 4 strips of solder - and then torque it per usual. You can visually tell if there's a taper by the squish mark. If the squish is tapered, it doesn't really matter what it measures because the interface is tapered. Getting a good measurement though will help tell the machine shop where and how much to cut.

Hermetically Sealed: How To Check Intake Manifold Seal
 
So I used solder wire and did the front and rear runners. Front and rear on passenger side calipered the same top to bottom. Bottom was .0145 and top was .0150

Drivers side the bottom was .0145 and top was .0190 in the back and front runner was .0145 bottom and top was .0195. Don’t know if it matters but the 2 back bolts got a little tight so the 35 lb ft might not be as accurate so didn’t know if that threw off the top a little bit or not. This was all without a gasket on also
 
Screamin demon72 said:
So I used solder wire and did the front and rear runners. Front and rear on passenger side calipered the same top to bottom. Bottom was .0145 and top was .0150

Drivers side the bottom was .0145 and top was .0190 in the back and front runner was .0145 bottom and top was .0195. Don’t know if it matters but the 2 back bolts got a little tight so the 35 lb ft might not be as accurate so didn’t know if that threw off the top a little bit or not. This was all without a gasket on also
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So, what do you think is going on? It is interesting to me since I had a similar issue.
 
Screamin demon72 said:
Don’t know if it matters but the 2 back bolts got a little tight so the 35 lb ft might not be as accurate so didn’t know if that threw off the top a little bit or not.
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did you reuse your manifold attaching bolts after the head swap or did you refresh the hardware with something different? as in perhaps the bolts are too long and bottoming out?

also, i hate to ask, and i'm not trying to be snide or rude in any way, but you did follow the torque sequence as well, correct?
 
You might have already done this but…
Use the pin end of your calipers to measure the bolt holes in the block then calculate the difference on your heads/bolt length.
Might be a possibility the head bolts are bottoming out causing an improper torque and a loose head/gasket.

Also another possibility could be the head bolt holes in the block go through to the water jacket and need proper sealant on the threads.
A long shot but worth checking it with the verniers again using the same method, check all head bolt holes in the block for water jackets/coolant passages.
I know this is 318 but ya never know…could be 360 also of the same year.
A 360 engine gasket kit might have had the same bulletin.

38F9739B-A25F-454C-8062-6D0F8AC6EBE0.jpeg


Another stupid question; are the locating dowels still in the block for the heads to line up?
 
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I tested the bolt length and they don’t bottom out before getting the intake tight, and they are the same length as the other intake bolts I previously had. I switched to the arp intake bolts for that motor.

The onot gasket I could get to seal before was the felpro ms90109 intake gasket, I used the calipers to check how thick that gasket is once it is crushed and it’s .046 crushed. I think Iv been needing the thinner intake gasket again since I got the heads ported I just never tried that one again because if you look that gasket up online the ports are too small but I used the caliper and they are off on the measurements online. The ms90109 gasket ports are 2.25x1.16 so they fit my ports almost perfect with a little bit of sand paper on a deemed to make them perfect so I’m going to try those again and let you guys know. If not I will try swapping heads back to the original sides and yes the dowels are still in the block for the heads to line up
 
Screamin demon72 said:
So I used solder wire and did the front and rear runners. Front and rear on passenger side calipered the same top to bottom. Bottom was .0145 and top was .0150

Drivers side the bottom was .0145 and top was .0190 in the back and front runner was .0145 bottom and top was .0195. Don’t know if it matters but the 2 back bolts got a little tight so the 35 lb ft might not be as accurate so didn’t know if that threw off the top a little bit or not. This was all without a gasket on also
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I have never used that method. But if those measures are accurate and representative of the entire intake condition (provided china rails are cleared), then that intake should seal. Make sure to seal water ports and engine block/head interface at the china rail with RTV. You are too close IMO for cork seals on end rails, I would use RTV. I have used Gaskacinch before around intake ports to seal and I had no leaks using it. I would recommend. If it were not for your description of oil soaked intake gaskets, I would say to start looking elsewhere like valve seals, rings, etc. for that oil penetration.
 
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Just wanted to let you guys know and anyone that has trouble in the future that the ms90109 gasket doesn’t leak a drop. It’s thinner and I believe is made out of better material. Ports fit perfectly to my ported eddy heads and intake and haven’t had any leaks anywhere
 
Hey, that’s great to hear, and thank You for letting us know!
 
dave ellis said:
China walls?
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The front and rear horizontal block surfaces under the ends of the manifold are called the "China Walls". These generally have a pin in them to assist with end gasket retention. There is a corresponding hole drilled in the bottom of factory manifolds that acts as a relief for these pins. The problem is that many aftermarket manifolds do not have these holes drilled in them, and when you try to install the manifold it is not allowed to tighten down properly, since it is being propped up by the pins. The common solutions are to either drill the bottom of the manifold ends in the proper locations, or remove the pins entirely and retain the end seals with RTV or just use a thick bead of RTV instead of the seals.
 
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