Hello Everyone,
Finally my cylinder heads are nearly ready to go on.
Original heads had a crack in one, which was repaired but when machining
out the buggered valve seat, they hit the water jacket, so game over for that one. Sourced some heads in great condition from the States, (I'm in Australia) & now 3 months on, should be ready next week, new valves, guides etc.
Have Delco head gaskets, do I need any type of sealant in conjunction
with the gaskets? obviously the heads have a new surface & I have cleaned
up the block surface well. Also, have the turkey tray type gasket for the intake
manifold, was going to use the rubber end gaskets with a bit of RTV, & RTV
around the water ports, is it necessary to use RTV around the fuel ports as well? (a fuel resistant type). Also, is it better to put RTV on both sides of the gasket?

thanks Cus.

 

Are they shim steel head gaskets? Yes RTV around both sides of the gaskets for the water ports, and good thick beads of RTV in place of end seals for the turkey tray. I use aviation sealant around both sides of the fuel ports.

 

Thanks for the reply.
They are composite type head gaskets (blue)

 

Then dry is fine.

 

Sorry to hijack this tread, but here is my question. I have a 455 with a torker intake. I've read so much about different gaskets I'm not sure what to do. I bought the standard set with the metal turkey tray style, then read to only use the composite/paper style individual gaskets with an aftermarket intake and do not use the tray. What is the best way to go? I have both styles on hand ready to go. Hanks.

 

From the Edelbrock instructions:
• GASKETS AND SEALANT
CAUTION: Do not use high performance or competition type intake gaskets for street application. Due to material deterioration under street driving
conditions, internal leakage of both vacuum and oil may occur.
1. Use OE gasket or equivalent when installing Edelbrock manifolds for street applications.
2. Apply Edelbrock Gasgacinch sealant, #9300, to both sides of the manifold as well as head surfaces. This procedure ensures a good seal.
3. To eliminate end seal deterioration and slippage, we advise eliminating the end seals and using R.T.V. Silicone sealant. Apply a bead of sealant
approximately 1/4" high across the block end seal surface, overlapping the intake gasket at the four corners. This procedure eliminates end seal
problems.

 

Ahh. Ok. Good to have these forums but sometimes you get to reading so much and getting so many opinions it just makes you dizzy and gets kind of frustrating for us know-nothings lol!

 

Ok one more question then for now anyway lol. What will I need to use for sealant and where on the metal gasket? I have rtv for the end seals already.

 

Also, just to be sure I went to the edelbrock page for the Torker manifold and it says "installation note:: RECOMMENDED INTAKE GASKET::Edelbrock #7284." which I believe is the individual style composite/paper style gaskets. So confused lol.