I got the 390 back from the shop and all seemed well again. Let me start by saying I am by no means an expert on motors, hence the stupid questions you’re about to get. I went to put valve covers on and there seems to be a decent gap between the intake and head causing the gasket to not seal properly. Is that a huge deal? And then we when finally got it in the truck we noticed the oil pan had a leak in the seal towards the back of the motor. Called the guy and asked what’s up, he said it’s from how the motor was titled when we brought it back and that it’s nothing to worry about. Is it? Thanks. I’ll have more im sure.

 

Well the intake is installed wrong first off. So when you omit the cork gaskets at the front and rear the manifold sinks. I am also going to bet the intake gaskets are so far off the intake runners are being blocked which will give intake runner turbulence on a performance build. We're the heads milled?

 

Also the oil pan should not leak regardless of engine orientation. How's it going to be when the oil is flying around in there like a couple of hoses spraying everywhere?

Frankly with errors like that I wouldn't trust anything the guy did.

 

How do you know the intake is installed wrong?

 

The intake is sitting to low, it is probably one or two things causing this, the sides of the intake were probably milled and possibly the intake sides of the head during this rebuild or previous rebuilds. Some milling is acceptable when material was removed from deck surface of block and bottom side of heads to get intake to fit properly, but in this case it looks like too much was removed. I'm not sure but someone may make a thicker intake manifold gasket set that might correct the problem, or you may have to find a different intake that has not been milled. Left as is you might get leaks or at the very least mismatched intake ports. The valve cover seal gap is too large although it rarely lines up perfectly it should be much closer.

 

From what I can see in your pic, you do not have the cork gasket under the intake, just goo. Cork would most likely raise it up to the correct height.

 

He needs the cork end gaskets and a thicker intake gasket. That's the thing about the FE's, the bolts have to stretch the intake towards the heads to seal properly, so the fit to start with is more critical.
As for the rear seal, I wonder if the builder even knew how to install the seals in the rear main cap. You have the crank seal and the two side seals and pins to install there

 

The confusing part is the driver side all seems to be at the correct height and works. The invoice claims he surfaced the heads, maybe just not the intake side. This whole truck has been a disaster from the start ha.

 

Looks to me that the block needed decked and paralled. If all these folks saying cork end gaskets would help are nuts if it binds that much you will crack the mainifold by warping it....wow

 

And you can see that from just one picture?
Pull the damn intake off, do it right and you'll be on your way.....

 

True, if you have a bad enough mismatch that you need the cork gaskets to make it line up again, well, the intake is just further up in the V which draws the intake further away from the heads.

Usually, you sit the intake in the valley with new gaskets, and it lines up. With or without cork end gaskets. If the geometry was done right by the machine shop

Once the heads and intake are milled, you don't use cork gaskets anymore, you use RTV ... for what I hope are obvious reasons

 

Probably surfaced just the deck sides. Most will not surface the intake sides unless instructed to. And then, that should only be done after bolting the heads on and verifying the fit first. How it fits with one block and heads may not be the same as on another.

 

We're all nuts ? Really ! I'm glad you're not working on my ****.

 

Aftermarket intakes often need a little fitting, especially on 50+ year old block/head combinations that may have been milled. While it's preferable to have the intake to head interface line up perfectly flat, it's okay if it doesn't. Many guys use silicone combined with cork gaskets to seal the valve cover gasket due to the narrow sealing surface and having only 5 bolts to tighten the valve cover. Even if the intake and head matched perfectly you'd want to add a dab of silicone at the interface. Your situation will leak as is but will be okay with strategically applied silicone.

Very, very few people ever use cork on the china walls for any reason today...most guys throw them away and only use silicone. You can get thicker intake gaskets but I'd leave your intake alone until you see it leaking (outside or inside). If the engine is completely installed, you might pressure check the radiator to see if the intake leaks any coolant before starting the engine. Definitely don't use cork gaskets on the china walls and just tighten it down. That might result in a cracked intake but it will definitely suck oil and probably air along with coolant. Consider thicker intake gaskets but verify they match your ports.

Oil pan should seal...kinda weird if it's leaking. Verify where the leak originates because all engine oil leaks end up on the oil pan (e.g. fuel pump, timing cover, intake, etc)