I am replacing the intake on my 425 with an Edelbrock Performer and their Thunder 750 carb. My dad was a mechanic and always drove and Olds. I remember working with him on Olds V8s and he always used an intake gasket set that was aluminum and had the valley pan. Is that a good fit for the aluminum Eldelbrock intake or should a use just the composite intake gaskets without the valley pan?
Thanks - Rocket Head Ed

 

The factory gasket was a valley pan/intake gasket. Most people refer to it as a "turkey tray" gasket. It works well for stock manifolds, not so well on aluminum. Order a Mr Gasket 404, use RTV on the end rails.

Most Olds specialist offer a bolt in tray that goes under the intake. It uses the holes that hold the lifter baffle in place. When you use the Mr gasket part there is nothing to keep hot oil from splashing onto the bottom of the intake. If your a reasonably talented fabricator it would be simple to make something like this yourself.

 

I used both. Valley pan to keep the oil off the intake
The cut off the intake ports but kept the metal around the heat cross over
Then used the composite gaskets as normal

 

some olds came factory w an aluminum intake and a valley pan. i run one on my 350 w performer intake no leaks use rtv as mentuioned and not the rubber end seals

 

Just make sure you order the correct one. I currently have a turkey tray and its for an egr intake and there is a diffrence between egr and no egr. And it's just on the egr port. I had a thread on this issue .

 

The concern would be the opposite - the hot 1000+ degree exhaust crossover cooking the 200-300 degree oil that splashes onto it. The aluminum intake will readily conduct that 1000+ degree exhaust temperature from the crossover port to the remainder of the intake.

Just for information purposes, I ran a Performer 350 for many years with no turkey tray and didn't have any oil cooked on the bottom of the crossover when I swapped it for the Performer RPM.

Also, I initially used a turkey tray with the Performer 350 and after several years the water ports started getting a white crusty buildup and the turkey tray corroded part way through at the corners of the rear water ports. This may have been due to not using much antifreeze (used straight water + water pump lube and Water Wetter most of the time). Keeping the coolant in good shape would likely prevent the corrosion that I experienced.

 

I forgot about the exhaust crossover, my Edelbrock heads don't have them. I plug the exhaust crossover on aluminum intakes with cast iron heads. I use the 2 part putty (not JB Weld, this stuff is like clay) and stuff it into the exhaust crossover port on the intake. Works much better than the aluminum plug and wont rattle. Obviously this wont work on hot air style chokes, you will need to convert to a electric choke.

 

I like this idea. Its cheap and it would work. McGyverism at its best.

 

I never cease to be amazed by people who say this. Hundreds of thousands of Olds motors came from the factory with the metal (steel, not alumunum) turkey tray gasket and aluminum intakes. That's all 1970-72 W-30s, all 1970 W-31s, all 307s with A4 and A5 intakes, many 260s, and most of the EFI 350s in Sevilles (the EFI intake came in both aluminum and iron). Personally I've always used a factory-style gasket with aftermarket aluminum intakes with no issues in four decades of driving Oldsmobiles. I'll also point out that there were 750,000 215s built by GM (and about as many built by Rover) that used aluminum intakes and heads with a steel turkey-tray style gasket.

 

matt what 2 part putty do you use ?

 

thanks for all the feedback guys. I am taking it all in.

 

Next time I see it in the stores Ill look at the brand. It comes rolled into a sleeve, with plastic separating the 2 parts. To fill both sides of the manifolds takes 2 packages (1 per side).

 

ok thanks pm me or reply here

 

I have never tried it, so maybe it does work. I guess I should say it SHOULD work, based on GM success rate. I have always used the Mr Gasket 404, with good results. I will say that I had a friend with a 75 442, he istalled a new out of the box Performer RPM manifold and used a stock replacement gasket. It always seeped a little coolant at the corners. Once he installed the other style gasket it never leaked again. His dad bought the car new, the engine had never been opened up until the manifold install. Maybe the Edelbrock intakes are machined with the thicker gasket in mind, or anticipation of milled heads? Who knows?

 

Every instance of the coolant leaks with stock gasket has been due to incorrect installation of the turkey tray. People either fail to use RTV around the coolant ports, as directed in the CSM, or don't properly seat the four locating features in the corner bolt holes. Either problem will prevent the gasket from properly sealing at the corners.

 

I Owned a 1978 Ford bronco for a while (in the early 90s) and had to do engine replacement. I put an edelbrock intake on the 400M block and used the stock Ford turkey tray intake gasket and had no problem with it sealing. The heads that I ended up using had been riding around in the trunk of a car of a friend of mine for almost a year. and it all matched up perfectly with no leaks. Point being the factory steel gaskets work. Don't over think it...

 

Joe, What's your opinion of which antifreeze works best with this combo?

 

I've been using regular green Prestone in a 50/50 mix since the 1970s. I even use tap water, not distilled. Haven't had a problem in half a century.

 

x2

 

Are there any brands that are typically better than others?
I had a Felpro, and was not impressed. The locating tabs were off, and it was a major pain.
I ended up having to take the intake back off (for a whole other reason) and would like to get a gasket that fits better this time.
Felpro? Mahle? Sealed Power? Or are they all the same?

 

Are they all the same? Doubtful, but good question. I purchased a turkey tray intake manifold gasket in 2018 for my 1971 350 cid (iron intake). The bosses were off-centered - supposedly, they had a bad run of them and I was a lucky recipient. I had to file down the off-centered bosses to get a good fit. I haven't had any leaks in x3 years (knock on wood), but the poor quality of the boss locations made the job a PITA since that iron intake is ~55 lbs and not so much fun slinging it back onto the engine for alignment numerous times.

 

FWIW, I used a FelPro turkey tray valley pan when I installed my Edelbrock Performer 2711 intake on my 350 last winter.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel-ms96027

It fit perfectly. I used RTV on the water ports and aviation copper coat gasket sealer around the intake ports because that is the way I did it back in the 80s with success. I ditched the rubber end seals and used a thick bead of RTV. So far, I have not had any leaks.