Some people recommend Victor Reinz, I like the Felpro Premium Blue, use a light coat of Ultra Blue RTV all over both sides, a heaver coat around the water jackets, a nice bead on both the China walls with an extra dab in each corner, and use threaded rods just finger tightened into four corners of the intake bolt holes so when I slide it on I know it goes down straight. Then I turn out the threaded rods, replace with intake bolts, tightening at 1/2, then 3/4 then full torque spec in the criss cross pattern, let it dry and check the torque after drying, add fluids, then check torque a week or so later.

 

Yep, that's what I did except for a different but similar RTV. I think what happened was I damaged the overhang of the rtv and it pulled some out when I did. Not sure when I did it, but there's a gap and there darn sure wasn't when I put the intake on. I actually went back through my pics to prove it to myself haha.

 

Sorry. I feel your pain. I've been trying to stop all my transmission leaks for months between work and other projects, had my pan off like five times. Now my old water pump has finally started roaring even though it isn't leaking, so that's on the docket. Then it's swapping the steering box...
Also need to replace a cowl and floor pans in my younger son's car and prep for paint...
And my older son's crashed 66 has a donor chassis waiting to be picked up and brought home...
It never stops.

 

Reminds me of replacing the rear main seal.

Perfect execution of the installation, only to have it leak about 400 miles later.

 

You might consider a Mahle MS20070. FWIW, I ALWAYS use a smear of Permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket around the water ports on both the head and the intake, and at both ends. Using 4 long studs at the corner location for alignment when installing the gaskets and, later, the intake itself, is a handy thing to keep the gaskets from moving.

Many folks choose to omit the corks and place a bead of RTV on the "China Walls". I use the corks with Form-A-Gasket on each side letting it get tacky before installing.

 

Aviation Form-A-Gasket is great stuff. I've been using it for decades. My VW rebuilt performance engines rarely leaked even though they had a reputation for it.

 

Got the intake pulled, working on cleaning the surfaces now which is always a pain.

Weird thing, #8 had coolant in it up top after the intake pull, a lot of it. I used a suction pump to get it out of there quick and then paper towels. I was at TDC for #1, so don't think anything got down into the piston cylinder.

I guess as I lifted the front of the intake, coolant just ran down the length of the manifold and went straight there. I drained the heck out of the engine and even tilted the car front and back using a jack to move coolant around after the system was empty. Hoped to avoid this.

No plugs in it yet and it hasn't ran, so I'll go ahead and change the oil and it should be fine. Cranked engine over by hand and nothing came out of the plug holes so none of the cylinders were full of coolant thankfully.

Once it's back together and the oil changed I'll plug in the starter and crank it for a few seconds. Should kick out any liquid that did slip in there.

 

Look, if it wasn’t for the constant problems these cars serve up, most of us would be rotting in a local bar. These car have saved us so many times from ourselves. At least they have me.

 

If I wasn't spending money on this, I'd be buying endless guitars to hang on my wall haha. I needed it for something to do outside, and that's what its doin.

Just....intake manifolds are my least favorite thing on a car to do. I'd do my header install 4 more times before I'd do an intake gasket.

 

I literally just dropped a 90’s 5.0 motor with e7 heads and performer rpm in my ‘66. I ordered this gasket set from summit, used a little permatex 300 on the water jackets and have had zero problems.

https://autosalesinc.pxf.io/c/40473...6090/35994?subid=autolinker&u=https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-6003-a50

 

Yeah I really think it was just user error. During the engine install, or when I was mounting a billion things to the engine I probably hit some of the "squish out" RTV at that spot and it scraped it off or something. When I took the intake off there was an obvious little gap there, but when I look at the pics I took of just before I mounted the intake, there wasn't.

 

Alright, it's mounted back up.

Went ahead and chased all the holes with a tap and got them cleaned up, scraped everything down and cleaned with acetone and did ultra black around the coolant ports (front and rear) and a 1/4" ridge on top of the China walls. Sat it down with studs again. Squish out looks good.

Did the Ford recommended pattern, first to snug and then let it sit for an hour. Then 10, 15, then (except the outer 4) to 22. Went back over it about 4 times until everything was properly torqued.

Hoses and wiring, etc are in place. Now to wait 24hrs to re-torque and then add coolant and see what happens. Might see if I can borrow a coolant pressure testing kit.

Side note: If you have some old carb studs that were too long, they're perfect for aligning the manifold as the bolt pattern on the course side matches up.

 

This thread reminds me of the scene in Gran Torino when they go to the barbershop.

 

One thing I do after any work that involves the cooling system is pressure test it to make sure there are no leaks. After any RTV has time to set, pump the pressure up to the spec and see if it holds. And if there are leaks they will be motivated to show themselves.

 

Well, I put 3 gallons of coolant in her and over the past 3hrs or so no weeping at any of the 4 corners that I can find!

However, let me re-iterate how much I hate that little bypass hose, which was leaking on the water pump end. It looks like I jostled it loose while fighting to get the manifold end back on. That took me ages to track it down chasing water droplets through the maze of brackets, pulleys, and weird shaped outcroppings on the timing cover and water pump.

Managed to get it loose and lose a lot of coolant in the process, push it down and get it snugged back up and it hasn't squeezed out any more drops for about 10 mins. I'll check it again in the morning and if it's still leaking I'll run get another one. I think this one was just a bit too short, like half an inch or so.

Trying to work in that little crevice between all the hoses, coil, brackets, and the intake itself cost me the skin from 3 knuckles lmao.

Also the AMK bolt for the upper slot of my alternator bracket (tensioner for AC) isn't biting if I put the correct thick washer on it. I think the threads in the timing cover are tired. Switched to a flat GR8 washer and it seated and tightened up fine.

 

Went and got another Gates 20338 bypass hose, cut it longer than the previous one and got it in place. Once the radiator filled up all the way and sat for a couple hours, it leaked in the same place as the last one, on the pass side of the connection.

I think the issue may be that on this Tuff Stuff water pump the clearance between the boss for the bolt right next to the connection for the bypass hose keeps the hose from quite going on all the way.

I'm at a loss. I took it back off after draining the radiator yet again again, put the tiniest amount of marine grease on the inside lip and the outside edge where that boss is and then crammed it down as far as it would go on the water pump fitting and then cranked the hose clamp until I was blue in the face. I'm using Gator clamps so they should be holding just fine with moderate pressure.

If it leaks when the system is off, no way would it hold at all pressurized. If it doesn't work this time, no idea what to do.

I want to start this danged engine and my header extensions are out for delivery.

Side note: The upper radiator hose is vibrating like crazy which I suppose is all the air in the system making it's way up. Super cool.

 

It's the water pump. Crammed my phone in there to take video and the coolant is seeping between the water pump and the fitting.

Guess I'm tearing apart the front of the engine.

Brand new $150 Tuff Stuff pump.

Called up Summit and they're gunna swap it out for me. Went ahead and switched to the natural aluminum one I originally wanted which is great, and also a $30 refund as well.

Will lose a few hours of labor, but that's how it goes.

 

It's the water pump. Crammed my phone in there to take video and the coolant is seeping between the water pump and the fitting.

Guess I'm tearing apart the front of the engine.

Brand new $150 Tuff Stuff pump.

Called up Summit and they're gunna swap it out for me. Went ahead and switched to the natural aluminum one I originally wanted which is great, and also a $30 refund as well.

Will lose a few hours of labor, but that's how it goes.

Seeping between the water pump and which fitting? The passenger side engine block water jacket?

 

New pump came in today, already had the surface prepped and ready. Install took maybe 10 minutes with all the various bolt sizes, spacers, and brackets.

Got it finger tight, let it tack up for a bit, then lightly torqued it. Going to let it sit torqued while I wait for new hoses to come in. Wasn't excited about spending more $$, but I honestly cut these in a rush and the lower one doesn't have a spring in it (my spring from the old engine was rusted to bits), so delaying things by a couple of days while I get the exhaust done to make sure its done right is peace of mind.

Weird thing is, the pump that leaked and didn't want to work was part number 1432AC. Basically the Tuff Stuff 1432 pump with a black coating.

My new regular 1432 has longer fittings for the heater and bypass hoses by almost half an inch when measured from the nut forward, that's not a small amount.

 

Just think of how much easier it would have been if Ford had threaded the thermostat housing bypass AND the water pump inlets 1/2 NPT? Then you could use a nipple and an elbow....

 

I don't want to jinx myself, but I went ahead and fought with the new hoses this evening and got everything filled up about 2hrs ago and thus far it is bone dry where it leaked before.

Trying not to have hope, I'll check it in the morning.

 

I officially give up, I don't know what to do. The driver side rear corner of the intake is now weeping coolant very slowly after having a full radiator for most of a day.

Twice I have painstakingly cleaned surfaces with razor blades, plastic scrapers, and acetone. Prepped high quality gaskets with recommended sealants around the coolant ports, lowered the intake on studs, tightened in the correct pattern to the correct torque ratings. 22 for the main bolts, 15 at the corners.

Still leaks.

The idea of pulling the manifold and dealing with all the coolant in the cylinders, scraping, cleaning....doing it all again. It's nauseating.

 

Much worse than I thought, that gasket didn't seal at all.

Figured I'd drain the oil before I pull the manifold this time, and there was coolant in the pan already so that port is leaking down into the valley and into the #8 again as well.

Stuck a radiator pressure tester on there after the oil was out and pumped it up to 14-15 (cap is rated at 16) and leaked from the front corner too.

I'm suspecting maybe the surface on the head is bad, which will mean a call to Blueprint and a LOT of hassle.

 

Something isn’t right….obviously. Since you brought it up what block/heads and intake are you using? Did you ever do a dry fitment of the intake itself and gaskets on the heads/intake manifold to see how everything lined up?

 

It's a 302 roller 40 over with E7 heads from Blueprint on a fresh rebuild. Another member here bought it new, spun a bearing at 6k miles and sent it back to them for warranty. Then he sold it to me because he got a 363 in the meantime and Blueprint shipped it straight to me.

I did set the intake down and didn't see any obvious gapping, but the intake mounting surfaces do have a lot of machining marks.

The intake is pristine, I actually sent 2 back to Weiand due to issues with the surfaces and/or casting so I checked the third one thoroughly.

If it was just a weeping gasket at one corner, maybe it would be on me and I could fix it with more permatex or a different gasket or more torque, but instant leakage into the valley means there's 0 seal there even with Permatex (red on round one, black on round two) which makes me think something is big wrong.

 

Went ahead and pulled the manifold. Everything looks pretty uniform to my eye as far as the pressure that was present. The gaskets weren't split. The orange you can see is from the first try, scrubbing with acetone won't remove it, it's in fine little grooves. Nothing will catch a fingernail, razor blade, or brass brush.

The red lines are pointing to weird machining lines that look like a crosshatch pattern, they're scattered here and there.

After I get the gasket scraped off tomorrow I'll get some close up pics of the 2 ports (that I noticed) that were leaking. "Seems" that it is only on the drivers side.

 

Here is a somewhat generic answer as to what might be going on:

If the head mating surfaces are not square or flat, or the manifold surface is not square and parallel to both heads, it will not make any difference what gasket you install as it will cause a leak. I experienced this on a new Dart block and the deck surfaces were not square from side to side. It was only found after my local machinist put the bare block in his million dollar CNC machine to check the block's deck surface to head relationship. They were found slightly off to each other side to side. After an ever so slight recut of the block deck surfaces at the correct angles, I had absolutely no further intake manifold sealing issues.

Also, if the intake manifold touches the block's china wall, the ports cannot not seal. Using a thicker intake gasket OR some shaving off of the manifold ends can help this situation. I've also had this problem in the past and always check for at least .020" clearance at the china wall when assembling an engine (gap is needed for heat expansion.) The intake manifold ends can be "machined" at home using rudimentary equipment, so no special intake gasket would be required. Once proper intake to china wall clearance has been established, I use Right Stuff in place of the china wall gaskets to prevent leaks.

I think it was mentioned that Cometic makes various thickness intake manifold gaskets (and they can be purchased from places like Flowtech: Custom Intake Gaskets - SB Ford XL (flowtechinduction.com) Note that the price is sold by "each" (so Qty would be 2.) FT is not my choice in vendors, but that's where I found the given info.

Good Luck!

 

Not sure on those marks you identified. Can you “feel” them or just see them?
Hard to tell in the pics but like mentioned above it looks like your intake is very close to the China walls by the amount of sealant squish-out. When you do a dry fitment how much space is between the China wall and intake ends? 1/16, 1/8, 1/4?
Lastly, check to make sure all the thread sealant is not packed into the bottom of the holes in the head. I believe the E7 heads are blind holes.
do you have a 12/18” straight edge? You can check the head surface. I am sure you can find the specs on-line. I know the shop manual for early heads list the specs.

Now this sucks! And I am sure you are not happy dealing with it, and it probably shouldn’t be happening but once you get it fixed the bad memory will fade. Have you talked to blueprint yet to see what they are will do for you?

 

A couple comments....

a. WAY too much RTV used, and not allowed to "set up" enough. Look at the excess on the insides of the "China Walls". That stuff is going to be in crankcase at some point in the future.
b. Too much RTV used around the water ports. A 1/8" bead mid-way around the sealing surface is more than enough.

What I'd do now....

a) Remove all the RTV (try AMMONIA on the residue) and check the cylinder head sealing surface for straightness with a metal straight edge.
b) Do the same with the intake manifold.
c) Clean up your old intake gaskets and set them in place. Get some Play Doh and place a 1/4" bead along the "China Wall" and set the manifold in place. Torque it down, then remove it and check the thickness of the remaining Play Doh. If you have any areas where all of the Play Doh has been squeezed away, it's possible somebody has surfaced the block or heads and now the "China Walls" are too high preventing the manifold from seating.

 

Here is a somewhat generic answer as to what might be going on:

I'll take all of this under advisement, stalled a little after I got it pulled last night.

Not sure on those marks you identified. Can you “feel” them or just see them?

I can barely feel them with my nail, kind of hard to tell. I think the amount of squish out was me overdoing the RTV on the China walls, I'll try and do a dry fitment today if I can get away from work, this evening if I can't.

The holes aren't blind, they go into the valley. Each time I've installed the intake I clean the holes out with a tap.

I'll try to buy a straight edge today so I can check, I won't put everything back together until I do.

No call to BP yet, I want to triple check the issue isn't the way I did the install before I ring em up.

A couple comments....

a. WAY too much RTV used, and not allowed to "set up" enough. Look at the excess on the insides of the "China Walls". That stuff is going to be in crankcase at some point in the future.
b. Too much RTV used around the water ports. A 1/8" bead mid-way around the sealing surface is more than enough.

What I'd do now....

a) Remove all the RTV (try AMMONIA on the residue) and check the cylinder head sealing surface for straightness with a metal straight edge.
b) Do the same with the intake manifold.
c) Clean up your old intake gaskets and set them in place. Get some Play Doh and place a 1/4" bead along the "China Wall" and set the manifold in place. Torque it down, then remove it and check the thickness of the remaining Play Doh. If you have any areas where all of the Play Doh has been squeezed away, it's possible somebody has surfaced the block or heads and now the "China Walls" are too high preventing the manifold from seating.

So the way I did the RTV as far as setup time: Applied, waited 15mins, set parts in place and took bolts to finger tight (just as squish started), waited one hour, torqued.

I agree I used too much on the China walls, I think it was hard to gauge the bead when I was hanging over the front of the car. I'll lower the car next time.

On the water ports, I didn't use a bead. I smeared the RTV with my finger around the ports on the gaskets (both sides) so it wasn't just globbed on. I can try and be more sparing on my next go round.

Your other points for next steps are dead on and what I'll be doing, thank you.