Best gasket maker for the china wall?

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someotherguy

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The ones that poke into the lifter valley will wick oil up the threads and leak onto the intake, if you don't use sealant. The intake gasket condition has no effect on that.

Richard
 

pro17

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I understand that. But the bolts at the corners don't go into the lifter valley. So how one at the corners had threads soaked in oil I don't understand.
 

someotherguy

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Beats me brother. Anything's possible I guess. Valve cover gaskets leaking down onto the intake? The only intake bolts I see routinely pooling oil on a pre-Vortec small block are the center four. I used sealant on all of 'em anyway, except for the four at the absolute far corners as they go into blind holes.

Richard
 

phantom 309

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I don't post very much, but this thread caught my eye.
I've been assembling engines for 30 yrs or more, and actually had a job doing final assembly for a machine shop.
In my experiences it is about patience. Let your silicone gasket maker material sit for a good 20-30 mins.
I had a few intake bolts with heads cutoff and a slot cut in them to use as guide dowels, it made life easier, i would put 1 in a back corner and 1 in the front opposite corner. After i had the bolts all in finger tight i used a screw driver to remove the homemade dowel pins.
If you are working in a tight engine compartment, or a truck thats higher than stock and the intake is a heavy cast iron piece,. The dowels really help.
I had two old head bolts i used when doing big block chevy head work, those old heads were heavy.
 

CrustyJunker

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I use Ultra Black, but I've found its mostly prep work that can cause leaks. I'll wire brush all the old stuff off, I'll even wipe it with paint thinner until the towels are clean...No paint, not even a crumb of old residue. Sometimes weeps happen between the cylinder head/China wall. It's hard to clean where the head gasket rests, but you can contact clean it and dab a bit on the outside afterwards. Give it the full 24 hours to dry and you should be golden. :waytogo:
 

El Tigre

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+1 on the intake bolts with heads removed. Works like a charm. Seem to remember book suggesting installing intake bolts finger tight,waiting half an hour,and then torquing to spec. in the exact order the GM service manual states...

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pro17

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I cleaned it up as best as I could. The last couple of times I just used a scraper, but this time I covered everything up and used a handheld air sander with 320 grit
 

Steve A

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Permatex Optimum Black or Grey (your choice), after cleaning surface wipe down with brake cleaner (non-chlorinated) prior to applying sealer.
Procedures same as outlined above
 
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Way back when I had a 327 in a '68 Camaro I had a similar experience with the China wall gaskets. I was beginning to think the manifold was badly made, it was an Edelbrock Torquer. My problem turned out to be that I did not have a good PCV valve installed. The crankcase pressure was pushing those gaskets out. Once I plumbed the thing properly I had no more issues.
 
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