olds 350 into amc spirit

[rud]

my project is so over my head, it's hard to stay on task. at least now, instead of asking "will it", or "can I?" I actually have a real world question. One that may shed light on my incompetence.
The engine is really in the car and the motor mounts are tacked in. I want to pull the motor out again(don't ask how many times) to weld in the mounts, and I want to use the bolts on the intake to attach the hoist to.
Here's the thing, the metal valley pan doesn't fit the shape of the bottom of the manifold. I shaped it to the old one and fitted it to the valley, but it seems that the underside of the manifold is uncooperative.
What's the secret?
I throw myself on the mercy of the gurus.

[Dave Severson]

The valley trays don't. They are below the manifold in the valley and are designed that way to keep the hot engine oil off the bottom of the intake which helps cool the air/fuel charge to the cylinders...

[rud]

Thanks for the info, Dave, but now I'm puzzled again. When I bought the gasket set, and they handed me that shiny piece of tin, and I saw the price, I asked if I couldn't reuse the old one if I cleaned it up. They explained that there were ridges around the intake ports that when torqued down, sealed the intake ports. There are holes for the intake bolts to go through, as well as the ridges around each port.
The problem I have is that one or more of the bends are shrinking the gasket to the point where it won't align with the bolt holes or the ports in the head it's designed to seal.