I haven't pulled my carburetor in a while and forgot how the gasket situation went: I had both a thin paper gasket and a thicker spacer beneath it before removing my carb today. When I opened the Mr. Gasket kit I ordered, I only got the thin paper 4 hole gasket but no thick spacer. I can't remember why I had the spacer at all, maybe because it came in my kit at the time, but my old one looks pretty busted and I probably shouldn't reuse it. Do I need a new spacer or is the thin 4 hole gasket between the carb and intake fine?

Here is the thin paper gasket I have in my possession:



And here is the thicker base gasket I believe I need in addition to this:



These are just generic images but do I need both? Just the thicker insulating gasket? Just the thin base gasket? Thanks!

 

The thick one is the stock setup You need that. No extra thin one.

 

Thanks for your reply! It looks like I could order this online but all of the shops in my area seem to only offer this with one large opening as opposed to the four individual bore holes. Does it matter which I go with?

 

This Is The Correct Factory Insulator

 

The ones with individual holes come in some carb kits. Not all by any means. Couldn't say about brand names or whatever. No idea how to order them separately and guarantee the desired configuration.

I've never really noticed any difference in engine behavior depending on the gasket style though.

 

Typically when both gaskets are used is when you have one of the aluminum head shields under the carburetor with the thick one first, then the aluminum heat shield and then the thin gasket. If you dont have a heat shield then you def want the thicker gasket.

 

The metal sheet piece (it was stainless steel, not aluminum BTW) was used in late 60s/early 70s cars with the first design EFE system. There was an exposed passage across the carb flange under the front of the carb, that carried exhaust from the pass side to the driver's side when the EFE valve was closed; the stainless sheet was necessary to seal it up and protect the bottom of the carb, without disintegrating. You are correct that the assembly of that system required the stainless sheet to be put on the intake first, then the gasket, then the carb. People would all the time think the gasket should go first, or that there should be 2 gaskets with the stainless between them, as if the stainless couldn't seal well enough by itself and needed the softer material; invariably the exhaust would eat through the gasket when they did that.

It went away sometime around 75 or so. Was replaced by the version of the system we have, where the exhaust passage is entirely inside the intake casting, and goes across underneath the plenum. That was when they introduced the super thick gasket with the phenolic spacers to control how much the gasket got crushed. The bolts are about a half-inch longer too, as a result.

 

I'm fully aware of that one and was not referencing it. I was referring to the actual aluminum one that GM Performance offered as well as the aftermarket which was infact aluminum and was a shield, not just a plate. Its foot print is larger than the carburetor and it acts to keep intake/engine heat from transferring into the carburetor. They were offered for both Holley and Quadrajets.

 

That's a complete other matter then, not applicable to the OP's situation, just as the early style isn't either.