Running an Edlebrock Performer intake, and Fel-Pro intake gasket, 4 piece, no turkey tray, 2 metal gaskets and 2 rubber front and rear gaskets in the kit.

The instructions for the Fel-Pro say to use the front and rear rubbers when installing. However, the Edelbrock says to not use the rubbers but to put a 1/4" bead of Black RTV down front and back, and only around the water jackets.

I read through and did some searching last weekend when I put the first set on with using the rubbers. Seems like some of you on here swear by turkey trays and rubbers, some with trays but without the rubber pieces. Then the other half us the 4 piece gasket sets and put on the front and rear rubbers and the other half use just a bead of RTV.

My rubbers on the front and back split in 2 and blew out on me a week later (Less than 5 miles drive time). So I re-ordered another gasket set, and was looking at advice on trying this again.

Should I ditch the rubber pieces, throw a fat bead of Black RTV down, and put RTV around the water openings, let it sit for about 10 minutes, instal and torque the intake down?

Or is there a better way to go about this? Am I missing something I should be doing? Tearing the top of the engine apart is getting a little old as I just got it running real good and smooth.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

My vote ditch the rubber front and back and go with the RTV. I've had the rubber gaskets move on me and as you describe I've seen them crack and leak when they get old. I've not had a problem using just the silicon gasket sealant. John

 

THanks for the tip... I did as suggested, threw away the rubber pieces. Put about 1/4 to 3/8" bead of Black RTV, and then I put a real thin layer around the rest, let it sit for about 20 mins, threw the top half back on, let that sit for about 2 hours and I took her out, beat on it a min to see if it was gonna leak or not and she seems to be holding well.

Amazing power, smooth acceleration.

I did notice kind of a surge if I am trying to hold constant speed, I can almost feel it, so not sure if that is an air issue or possibly timing issue.