My brother said to get exhaust manifold gaskets cause they're thicker. Would this be ok? Also, how do I know if I have square or circle exhaust ports?

 

Exhaust manifold gaskets typically have perferrated steel on one side, because of the heat retained by the cast iron. For headers, they typically don't work that well.

Have you tried just putting a bolt in and snugging it up? Or do you know for a fact that the gasket is burnt out?

You have round ports. Squares were the more hi-po versions.

 

One bolt is missing, another was loose. On the end towards the back I can see the gasket burnt up, like the inside part of the gasket is showing.

 

on my install of headers i did not use a gasket. i used an heat resistant RTV. i got it from advace auto parts. it was in a pressurized (contence is an off red color)can up by the cah register. i made sure to retorqe all header bolts after each motor run for the first month or so after motor cool down. i have had this seal sence dec of 2001 and no leaks yet. this was a trick i picked up from the local dirt track racers.

 

I have heard to soak the gaskets in water to make them swell. Let them dry and then install. Not sure if this works, but you can try. The single gaskets might work alitlle better than the full length gaskets. I have never done the water trick.

 

I already changed it, but we'll see how it holds up. It wasn't the gaskets fault, the bolt fell out.

 

if it is the right back bolt you will have to retighten the bolt over and over for a while to try and keep it from burning another gasket. for some reason small block chevy like to loosen that back header tube.


good luck

 

Get yourself some Percy's aluminum header gaskets from Summit or Jegs. They are the cat's a$$

I've only had to re-torque them a couple of times during the first week of operation.