I decided to go with the felpro turkey tray intake manifold gasket on a 350 olds motor im tinkering with.The quality control is in the tank on these things .I spent nearly an hour tapping and bending and flexing this thing to finally get it to stay put in all four locator holes.when the box arrives and its been opened and retaped along with some scratches in it you just know it was a return and your in for it.with some patience and a little swearing i did finally get the intake installed. ive done some of these back in the day and dont remember having this trouble and i was leaning over the fender trying to carefully place it just right (this one thank god is on a run stand)I guess i could have taken the easy road and just did regular gaskets but its a pretty stock motor so i stuck with the factory replacement.

 

Are you sure it was for a SBO and not a BBO? Considering the state of the box, perhaps it was a BBO tray in a SBO box. I used a turkey tray on my toro and aside from lining up the tray, heads, and 80 lb intake it did not go too bad. I think I may have needed to put a little more bend in the bottom of the tray but that was about it. I used felt style gaskets for the 455 in my holiday coupe, but I have a felpro turkey tray to install in it when I pull the motor back out to restore the under hood area. Depending on your setup, you probably could have just used the felt style. I am only replacing them because I used a repro W30 intake and I think it will suck oil out of the valley area through the PCV nipple.

 

it was the felpro ms96009

 

Was that stamped on the tray anywhere or just on the box?

 

I recall the boss misalignments on turkey trays beginning ~3-4 years ago for others & myself included; and, it appeared on nearly every brand. Took me & others 2-3 tries before you realize it’s not you but the damn boss is misaligned after slugging a 60lb intake manifold up & down several times. I think one company makes them all, they send them off to Jethro and he places them at 300’ to shoot the boss alignments with a .22 rim fire short rifle.

 

I never noticed a part number stamped on it but I have a big block pan on the shelf and it’s much wider than the new pan .im 99.9 per cent certain it was the correct pan just bad alignment on the locator holes

 

lol I think jethro was a little off his game that day

 

….likely keeping an open eye on Ellie May.

 

BTW, my corrective action was to beat down with a BFH one corner boss alignment on the gobbler tray until it was completely even. Three years ago, no leaks.

 

Had the same issue with two felpro turkey trays i purchased. I verified the felpro part numbers on the box on the turkey tray and made sure they lined up with info provided on the felpro site as well as this site. Attempted to line us the locator holes using both turkey trays they were both slightly off, front holes would line up, but rear would be slightly off, or vice versa. Was able to make it work, as the intake manifold doesnt appear to be leaking any oil.

 

I had one for a BBO that was this way also, though it was a few years ago when the quality issue was at its peak. I had to file one of the locator bosses down to fit the heads. I've used a few more FelPros more recently with no issues on fitment or sealing.

 

Okay, just another crappy used part then. However, before bashing repop parts, parts suppliers, or reproduction warehouses too badly, I try to take a second to think where I (we) would be without them? Even poor fitting parts that take some effort for them to work are better than the alternative. In the case of a gasket the alternative would be 1 – finding NOS or 2 - making it yourself (eventually 2 will be the only option in a situation like this). Also, even lower quality reproductions often make high quality original parts more available and affordable. For example, there are obvious differences in the appearance of 70-72 reproduction rally pack dashes and originals, but every guy out there who can settle for a cluster that is "close" to original is one less guy on the market competing for the finite number of nice originals. Look at the prices of good used 68 - 72 gauge dashes (reproductions available) and then take a look at the prices of good used 67 rally packs. When frustrated with a poor quality reproduction, I try to take a step back for a few minutes anyway before starting to throw stuff.

 

I had issues with a FelPro turkey tray last summer. I believe I came up with a few new expletives! (Who ever said you get more patient as you age?)

 

Get off my lawn you %*$&%)* kids...

 

Add me to the list of problems with the felpro turkey tray for small block. I was one of the first. This was prolly 10-12 years ago and was told by most on here that I was doing something wrong. Anyway I ended up using the after market type gaskets and fabricating a oil shield to keep oil from splashing on exhaust crossover. It was a Pia that I would never do again. I think next time I will just file off the offending locater if needed.