Anyone else have trouble with the china wall gaskets? I had to change the intake gasket over the winter on my 514 because I didn't use the cork gaskets and the silicone bead seeped oil all of 2008. I changed it in March and never ran the motor enough to warm it up past 165 and notice that it smoked like a freight train. I was loading the truck on Friday to go to a race on Saturday and noticed the smoke. I then proceeded to change the oil, drain the fuel and put in fresh, take springs off to check valve seals, do a leak down test, do a compression test, and remove the carb to look down the intake runners. I noticed a lot of oil on top the valve and decided it had to be the intake gasket. I managed to chase down a felpro 1231 set in a Wyoming farm town with a population of 3500 at 6:00 pm on saturday. I was determined to make the race on sunday so I take the intake off, cleaned everything up, got the intake back on and fired it again about 9:30 and the smoking is just as bad and the intake runners just as oily. The only thing I can think is that the china wall cork gaskets are too thick and the intake won't seat against the gaskets. Any thoughts?

 

I dont know how bad your truck is smoking, but do you realy think theres enough oil in the lifter valley to cause an engine to smoke & +, right after you replaced the intake gaskets.
Over time, maybe a gasket could leak & suck in some mist.
Unless for some reason when you installed the intake back on the engine & something was in the way to keep it from compressing onto the gasket & not forming a seal, that might be the only way the mist could get into a port.
Strange things do happen though, every day.
When you pulled the valve covers & the springs to check the seals, noticed any play in the valve guides & stems.
Neil

 

The problem is, after I replaced the gasket and ran the truck again to check on the smoke, I let if run for about 30 minutes. It was good and warm and smoking like a train again. I pulled it back in the garage and again removed the carb and looked at the valves through the runners. There is a couple tablespoons full of oil on top the valve.

There are two reasons why I think it is the intake gasket. #1) If the intake were up too high, it would cause a lot of vacuum in the lifer valley, and every cylinder I can see has about the same amount of oil. #2) The only thing I changed over the winter was the carb, the headers and the intake gasket. The only place the oil can be coming from is the lifter valley. The fuel is clean, the oil is clean, the compression is 162-168 lbs in all 8 cylinders checked. It has very little leak down, and the valve seals look brand new, since they are brand new. The entire motor only has about 30 passes on it since it was built last may.

 

I never use any gasket on the "china wall". I have had terrible luck using them Whether they are cork or rubber, I dont use any at all. I set up a bead of RTV and let it set up extra long. I dont get crazy and over apply it because I never want the RTV to oooze inside of the lifter valley, but I do apply just enough so that it will slightly squeeze out when the intake is torqued. I dont suffer from any leaks.
I would imagine that with a vacuum leak such as this, that you might suffer from a poor running engine. Is it running well?

 

I agree with what you are saying and have never used the cork gaskets before, but I went against my better judgment this time. The only reason I used it was it leaked last year when I didn't use it. However, I will not use it tonight when i change gaskets again.

The engine does not run bad but nothing like it did when the intake sealed and didn't suck so much oil.

 

I had the same problem when I installed an Edelbrock EPS intake using Fel pro gaskets, I couldn't get the intake to seal. I finally read the directions that came with the intake and discovered Edelbrock says to use only Edelbrock #7201 or Fel Pro # 1256 (#1205) for after-market heads) intake gasket set, otherwise the intake won't seal. I went with the #1256 gaskets and have had no problems since. Dave

 

thanks Dave. There is something to be said about reading instructions.

 

I always dry fit a manifold first, I put the manifold seals in & put some clay on the bottom, no bolts just push it down on the clay. Check the clay with a set of dial calipers and compair to the seal they gave you. If it is a reasonable squish I run them with some sealer. If not I gob them. I won't use cork though.

 

Although my sealing problem was on a sbc, I'm sure edelbrock recommends a certain # gasket set for the ford. I've installed quite a few after-market intakes on different makes of engines and always used the Fel Pro sets that the local auto parts store had in stock. As long as it matched the manifold's ports/passages, I'd install the gaskets and never had a problem. Seems that in the last few years, if I don't use the recommended gasket set, the manifold won't seal correctly. I contacted edelbrock tech and he said the correct gaskets will "brinnell" to the manifold and heads. I assume that means they'll compress and conform to the surfaces? Anyhow I hope this helps. Dave

 

I am going to work on it here this afternoon, and I am alomost positive that it is the cork gaskets. I have been running this same intake for 5 years and this is the second year for the heads and block. I wish now I would have just let it leak a little and never changed it.

 

I done the same thing used Felpro and edelbrock still leaked , This cured mine 1231S Felpro and the rubber strips from valleypan set use black rtv thin layer under rubbers and about 3/16" thk bead on top bolted it down and runs great NO LEAKs

 

Still not sealing after three gaskets. I torqued the intake to 25 lbs and it still leaks. Would it be possible to warp the intake enough during powder coating to cause the leak. Seams like a long shot since all the runners leak that I can see. I don't know where else the oil could come from.

 

Check the intake for warping by using a straight edge

 

I installed an intake without using gaskets once. I used a thin layer of ultra blue permatex around the ports and water jackets. That motor turned 7,000+ and never leaked. You might give it a try.

 

I am willing to try anything at this point. I am going to try one other thing first before I take the intake off again. Still trying to make the $5000 to win Footbrake race tomorrow.