Thread: FE Intake Oil Leak -- End Gaskets or Not?

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Sorry to hear that Randy. That is the tough thing about the FE motor. That gap where the cork gasket goes is huge. As I wrote earlier in the thread, I spoke with both Edelbrock and Permatex, both swore that I should not use the cork. Their theory was that with a cork gasket, you have 4 surfaces that might fail. With "the Right Stuff" and no gasket you only have 2. (Intake, Cork Top, Cork Bottom, Block). When you say Permatex, which product? I used the Right Stuff.

I will say the "Right Stuff" was unbelievable sticky and I think is a good choice but I still think when I go back, I'll use the cork. I'll probably go overboard putting too much instead of too little myself. It sure is painful having to clean all those surfaces up without getting it into your motor right?

Good luck with your FE! Hope you're leak free by this time tomorrow.

Jeff

Originally Posted by jawarner

Sorry to hear that Randy. That is the tough thing about the FE motor. That gap where the cork gasket goes is huge. As I wrote earlier in the thread, I spoke with both Edelbrock and Permatex, both swore that I should not use the cork. Their theory was that with a cork gasket, you have 4 surfaces that might fail. With "the Right Stuff" and no gasket you only have 2. (Intake, Cork Top, Cork Bottom, Block). When you say Permatex, which product? I used the Right Stuff.

I will say the "Right Stuff" was unbelievable sticky and I think is a good choice but I still think when I go back, I'll use the cork. I'll probably go overboard putting too much instead of too little myself. It sure is painful having to clean all those surfaces up without getting it into your motor right?

Good luck with your FE! Hope you're leak free by this time tomorrow.

Jeff

Hey Jeff,
It worked!! Yay! This time I used a Felpro gasket set with the cork ends like I said in the previous post, I think. The side gaskets hook into the head gasket tab to hold them in place. I glued the cork ends in place with Gasgacinch and used the black Permatex Ultra to put a big glob on the corners where the cork meets the sides and around the water jackets on the intake. I torqued it down to spec and it seems to be working fine. No leaks yet and I've been driving it around a lot today. I still have a little fine tuning to do to the carb but so far, I'm pleased with the change.
Good luck on yours. Sounds like a nice car. Have you posted any pics of it?

Later,
Randy