After installation and proper torque of intake manifold(I have done this 3 times now, and the last time I cut the intake manifold by 10 thousands for fit) the intake manifold gasket shifts up and out of valve cover area allowing oil to be drawn into the inake port of the cylinder heads causing the engine to burn oil excessively. This is an edlebrock aluminum intake manifold. When the manifold gasket starts to move, it will tear around the intake manifold bolts. I built this motor according to a Hot Rod issue building a 410 Merc. This engine has also been fitted with edelbrock aluminum heads. Please Help me this has been a real annoying problem for quite a while now.

 

Welcome to FTE, you started out with a chalenge.

This is a weird one, after some thought the only thing that comes to mind that would cause this is if there is an angle problem between the heads and the manifold. If the angle is such that the manifold is contacting the heads at the top of the sealing surface first, the manifold would tend to bend as it is torgued down. This would make the manifold bow down in the middle thus acting like a lever and pushing up on the outside top sealing edges, and because of the high force against the gasket it is pulling the gasket up. Does this make sense?

I would grab some clay or wax and put little ***** of it on the sealing surface of the head and lube the manifold surface with a little oil so it don't stick to the clay/wax. Then put it in place, don't bolt it down but maybe just do a few push ups pushing on the carb surface, to give a good even squish to the wax/clay. Then take it off, lay a strait edge across the smashed ***** and use feeler gauges to measure the height/thickness of the smashed clay/wax. They should all be the same height. If not well there you go.

Hope this helps, let me know what you find.

 

Welcome to FTE

As original, there were TWO different intake manifold gasket sets used on 1966/67: 390 4V, 410's & 428's.

C3AZ9433G .. Intake Manifold Gasket Set / Use before 6/1/1966.

C6AZ9433A .. Intake Manifold Gasket Set / Use after 6/1/1966.

Did you get the correct intake gasket set for the Edelbrock manifold?

If Edelbrock says to use the Ford set, which one is required?

Call Ralph Guhldahl @ Edelbrock in Torrance CA and ask. He was the tech writer for Hot Rod Magazine when they came out with those High Performance books in the early 1970's.

Two partsguys at Beverly Hills Ford gave Hot Rod Magazine the Ford ID and part numbers used in those books.

One of them is typing this post.

 

First, you should have had no reason to mill the intake. Now that intake is worthless on another engine.

Second with new intake and new heads it shouldn't have been needed...

You should use Victor (available at Carquest) or the standard Fel-Pro gaskets. Stay away from the Fel-Pro print-o-leaks.

Victor 95158SG or MS15166X
Mr Gasket 202A is acceptable if none of the others are available.

Use gasket tack to attach the gasket to the head face and let it set-up. Silicone the front and rear block rails and light film around the water ports.

Let it skim over and install the intake as straight down as possible and don't slide it back and forth.

Drop the distributor in place to make sure it aligns before you start torquing the bolts.

Josh

 

I have had many edelbrock intakes and have had to cut all of them one way or another to make them fit right. In my opinion they are a good intake but quite generic when you get them.

 

Mill the head intake face to match whatever was milled from the cylinder head deck surface and you wouldn't have ruined all those intakes.

The only Edelbrock intake with a history of problems is the Victor.

Josh

 

All this proper gasket stuff is fine, but I'm sure he would have fiqured it out by now if he had the wrong gasket. And getting on him about milling the manifold isn't going to do any good.

What got me is these lines in his description of what is happening;

He seems to be saying that something is forcing the gasket up as it is torqued down. That it is forcing it up hard enough to tear the gasket.

This would have nothing to do with an incorrect gasket, or it's instillation. The only thing I can think of that could cause this is bad angles as I described above. Even if he had taken .100 off the maniflod it wouldn't cause the gaskets to lift out, just vary poor port alignment.

 

Improper installation... probably smearing the crap out of the ports with silicone and not using the head gasket tabs to hold the intake gasket in place.

Unless the head was milled excessively it shouldn't be causing any problems.

Josh

 

I didn't ruin any intakes. I don't plan on pulling one off and putting on another. When I prep an intake it is for ONE motor not for 3 or 4. I've used performer, victor, victor jr., torker,and performer rpm. Small block and Big block. All fords of course. I've built a lot of motors and every intake you just have to check and make sure it fits perfect. NONE of the edelbrock intakes I've used have fit perfect yet(not without some milling).

 

you dont specify what brand of gaskets you are useing , on any fe i have done always use a good grade of tack glue to hold the front and rear intake seals give it some time to dry and hold . are you wiping off the surface before you apply tack glue with alcohol ? Then i set each side gasket in and a dab of silicone at each bottom corner where the gaskets over lap . Dont know if any of this helps . Its a bugger to do when the engine is in the vehicle and you have a cast iron type for sure .

 

Not that I am an expert, and I do have a belly-button. But, it sounds like an angle problem to me. Like the heads aren't square or the block was milled incorrectly. For it to be forcing the gaskets up it seems like the upper gap would be wider than the lower gap. It does not seem that overly gooping up the gaskets would cause this. Something is off......Gotta be frustrating as all get out.

Worse case scenario, try peening the surfaces and then use that spray gasket glue and glue them on. Sounds pretty hokey, but maybe it would work.

 

Never mind Bullitt390's commentary - that deal only works in a perfect world. These engines are 40 years old, most have had all kinds of service repairs and whacking done on them. I cut intakes relentlessly and with no remorse. Make your's fit your engine and don't worry about the next guy. I don't. I'd say 60%+ of the aftermarket intakes and 30% of the original ones I see need tweaking. I have had to mill .040 of of one side to get it to sit flat. And despite the fears of the purists I have installed these on subsequent motors and had them fit just fine.

The Victor gaskets are obsolete. The Fel-Pro Print-o-seals are for race use only - they will not live under street driving for any length of time. Many aftermarket gaskets do not have the head gasket tabs to hold them in position. Your best gasket choices are Mr gasket 202A or the new Blue Thunder MR ones. The Blue Thunders are made of a material that approaches floor tile in density. If you find yourself needing extra thick .120 gaskets they are available from Blue Thunder as well - Super Stock guys like them...

I start out by setting the gaskets in place - no end seals - and locating the intake using the distributor. Level the front and back china walls. Make note of any bolt hole misalignment using a flashlight. Make note of port misalignment - same deal. It's a 45 degree flange angle so you'll need to cut a bunch to correct anything big - twice the needed drop.

Now let's check the angle. Use feeler gauges at each corner - upper front left, upper front right, lower front left, lower front right - repeat for the rear. If you can slip anything more than .010 into one upper and not the lower - or vice versa - the angle needs to be corrected. You will need to cut the "tight" edge to match the one with clearance. Dont be surprised if you need to cut a bunch to get it right - I write all the measurements on the intake with a "Sharpie" as I go. When things are good the intake will drop right into place, all the bolts will go in smoothly without binding, and the valve cover gasket surfaces will be level with the heads.

I glue the gaskets to the heads - sealer around all openings - but very, very thin - like a coat of paint. Silicone front and back - I prefer the stuff from Motorcraft that comes in a caulk tube - specified for diesel service.

 

Where's the OP on this?