Well, I have taken apart two of them that were never opened before and these paper gaskets were there (factory installed). These gaskets are very thin, about the same thickness as the gasket that goes between the oil pump and the block.

Like I said before, just about any parts store stocks them. Why would they do that if the consensus is that these gaskets are not needed?

It is sort of self evident that they were needed if you can take apart a factory original engine and find a gasket like this in the engine. That is really all that needs to be said about this subject.

Moving on.

 

I see. I was thinking of the thick aftermarket gaskets.

 

Perhaps on the assembly line, where time is money, it was cheaper to use the paper than wait for (or to buy?) some high tack to set up. I am certain (99% because I can't find it to check) fel-pro's gasket installation manual makes no mention of them but does specify permatex high tack or equivilent. Which, BTW, is the ONLY stuff to use, IMO.

 

Throw the valley pan in tha garbage !!!!!!!

 

"Throw the valley pan in tha garbage !!!!!!!"

You go right on ahead, bub. You can also throw your motor in the garbage after all the hard sludge that falls off the bottom of the manifold clogs your oil pump screen. I thought that point had already been made in this thread, but I guess you didn't see it.

 

Never had a sludge problem yet..............

 

Well, I wouldn't ever be listening to buzz anyway.

I figured it out after coolmint94 posted the question, my Chiltons guide only shows a valley pan and end seal, and the kit comes with a tube of black RTV.

 

When I bought my edelbrock performer intake from Summit, they recomended me regular intake gaskets not the valley pan. I since learned that one of the main reasons for the pan was to keep the hot engine oil off the intake, as the cooler you can keep the intake the more HP you will get (although admittingly not a large difference)? Is this not the main reason for the valley pan?

 

go and buy a new vally pan gasket it comes with everthing you need, its only like $32. then i highy recomend "the right stuff" its only $13 it come in a can, but you have to work kinda quick with it. i have replaced the whole vally pan twice, once when i put on a new manifold, then again down the road because it was leaking at bolth ends. "the right stuff" fixed the leak. use the new vally pan gasket and "the right stuff" and you will be set, and dont use any silicone imbetwwen the intake and carb. just the gasket provied with you new carb

 

Sorry to change the subject but I have an edelbrock non egr performer intake and was wondering if I could get away with using the performance setup instead of the valley pan without the hard sludge problem previously mentioned.

 

The problem is not sludge; it is coke. Coke is formed when a complex hydrocarbon (like engine oil) is destructively distilled (i.e., "burned" in a low-oxygen environment). The exhaust crossover in the intake manifold heats the manifold enough to coke the oil that gets splashed on the bottom of the manifold.

Coke is a dry, crystalline carbon compound that is very abrasive. When small chunks inevitably fall off the underside of the intake manifold, they enter the oil supply. If they are not effectively filtered out, they will produce severe wear on the bearings and other components that require forced lubrication.

The separate intake/head gaskets in the FelPro #1240 intake gasket set block off the exhaust crossover passages in the middle of the heads. If you use those gaskets, the intake manifold will not have hot exhaust gas flowing through its crossover passage, and you will not have an oil coking problem.

BTW, blocking the exhaust crossover with the FelPro #1240 gaskets is a legitimate high-performance modification (IMO), but I've seen several vehicles that had cold weather driveability problems caused by blocking the exhaust crossover.

Eric (Torque1st) seems to have found a solution to cold weather driveability problems with a blocked exhaust crossover by setting up his air cleaner heat stove to regulate the incoming air temp.

 

That would probably explain why my truck takes longer to start when its cold. Have to let it idle for a good 5 minutes or so when the weather is even remotely cold, then it runs fine. But that I dont mind, think its good to warm the engine up before taking off (of course making sure oil pressure is good).

I read somewheres on the internet someone drilling and taping out a hole for a bolt or something like that in the crossover. You could back the bolt out to open up the passage, or screw it down to block it off. Any thoughts on that one?

 

How cold does it get where you are? I too don't have a problem warming up an engine but I'm in Colorado so my concern is that when it's very cold it will run good after warm up.

 

Well typical winters here average around 10-20 deg F. But it takes a little warmup even in the summer. Once the temp gets below 50 it seems like it takes about 5 minuts to run good, and in the winter 6-8 minutes. But also I am not that used to driving carbed vehicles, they take longer anyhow, thats just natural. And my motor has had all the egr, emissions, and heat riser stuff removed; and a .5" phenolic spacer(insulated the carb from heat) so all of that will probably make it a little cold blooded. And now the gasket thing I just learned about too. Next time I take the intake off I planned on puting the turkey pan gasket back on - mostly just to keep the intake a little cooler. I probably need to fine tune the electric choke also.

When the engine was stock with just most of the emmissions removed it warmed up quicker.

 

Bubba, I'm impressed. Most folks don't take the time to learn that kind of thing.

Many engines come from the factory with a thermostatic valve on one of the exhaust manifolds. When the temp is cold, it closed and helps direct the exhaust throught the exhaust crossover to heat the manifold more quickly. The heated manifold helps vaporize the fuel and promotes quicker engine warm-up, reduces oil dilution due to raw fuel getting past cold rings, prevents accelerated wear due to fuel washing the oil off of cylinder walls, and reduces valve gumming. Seems like a good thing.

The bolt in the cross-over sounds like a nice trick. I also like the retro-fit of a hot-air stove for the intake air. It might not look real zoomy, but to me it looks smart.