I recently took off intake because I had bad injectors...so when put everything back together I discovered that I was leaking oil from the back of my intake on driver side ...so I did not use a gasket...but I put red RTV silicone on the China wall.
so I have to take it all apart now ...and I'm confused why people are saying don't use the gasket? Every time I've ever did a sbc I used them ..so why aren't they recommended now? And I want to change these stupid Allen torque bolts out to hex style ones..what are the sizes for intake to l98 aluminum heads bolts?

 

The gasket that are supplied for the china wall push out and leak often. Were as rtv doesn't push out and seals nearly every time. As long as there's enough applied (which isn't all that much) it will seal. The rtv also helps hold the manifold gaskets stay in place while you lower the intake on.

As far as bolt, lots of venders offer kits. Ebay probably has some, you can piece them together your self if you know the sizes you need and Hawks has a kit seen here... http://www.hawksmotorsports.com/87-9...nner-bolt-kit/

 

yeah I see the felpro gasket set had those two thin black gaskets that kept sliding around ..so I didn't use them...but now since I'm leaking back there again I went to parts store and found a NASCAR kind of gasket set and those two rubber gaskets look thicker and look like they would hug the walls way better? Seriously thinking of using them with some grey silicon on top of the rubber?

 

Yeah, nobody uses those gaskets and the TPI Felpro gasket kit comes with a tube of RTV because the only way to make the intake seal is to use RTV and the gaskets. </sarcasm>

Intake to head bolts on a SBC are 3/8-16" GM used Torx bolts because they're the best choice for the application.

I won't go in depth trying to change your mind, I'll just tell you there's nothing wrong with the bolts or using RTV at the front and rear of the block. I'd be cleaning the bolt threads and using Permatex thread sealer on reinstall. Next take a good look at the oil pressure senders, switches, ports in the block, etc. Not a lot of pressurized oil to leak at the back of the intake.

 

I looked at the plug that's originally for the sending unit but mine is plugged off with a plug..but I put a mirror back there and actually seen the oil coming from the Intake? I got some thinker rubber gaskets now so I'm try them with a bead of silicone?

 

the reason I don't like those torque bolts cause they started stripping when applying torque so I couldn't even finish torquing Them?

 

I work on newer cars for a living and have a huge investment in my tools. My snap on torx sockets fits alot tighter in a brand new torx bolt than any of the other brands I have. Not saying that you don't have a good socket just saying that could be a culprit. Fwiw I've had my tpi intake completely apart at least 5 or 6 times with what I presume to be the original bolts. Those bolts can strip out easily if the slightest amount of grime is inside them as well.

 

Torx bolts work great with proper tools and care. Cheap chi-knee sockets and adjustable wrenches will mangle traditional hex bolts just as bad as cheap chi-knee Torx bits from the red/yellow/green discount offshore one-time-use tool bin. Yet people will forever blame the bolts instead of using a better tool.

Not exactly a lot of torque on intake bolts. Really shouldn't be a problem under normal circumstances...

 

I swapped all my intake bolts to socket head allen stainless steel because the kit was cheap and I have a larger selection of sockets for them (ball tipped, etc). I didn't use a Fel-Pro kit - used one from the manufacturer that used to make Fel-Pro's gaskets for them before they off-shored everything and all their products turned to $hit. And used straight RTV on the china wall. I did have to bead-blast the intake mating surface, fill the pits with epoxy (JB weld), and block sand it smooth to get a proper seal.

GD

 

Absolutely correct! Snap On Torx and Allens are always the best way to go. After some years as a professional, almost all my tools are Snap On. Worth the money. I've also had my TPI off a few times, and several others professionally. Never stripped a Torx bolt head using Snap On tips. And the Torx do need to be clean. Use a pick to dig any crud out of the Torx, brake cleaner and shop air to degrease them. Hex(Allen) head bolts should work fine but be sure to use thick hardened washers on them so the small heads make good tension against the manifold. Watch your bolt lengths. Manifold bolts should be grade 8. Also, the base manifold to cyl head bolts are USS thread(3/8-16), the rest of the intake bolts are metric (8mm-1.25). They may look alot like 5/16-18 but they're not.

For sealing the intake I've learned to use GM Engine Sealant for the china walls. You can buy it at most GM dealers. It's thicker than other RTV. Otherwise, use The Right Stuff from Permatex. It's also thicker than most RTV so it works better to fill the space between the manifold and block. I smear a thin coat of regular RTV (finger tip) around both sides of each coolant passage, leave the intake ports dry. Then use the thread sealant pictured above on the four front a and four rear bolts(where they might go into water). You can use thread sealer on all the bolts, won't hurt anything, just not needed.

 

Wurth makes a "Heavy Bodied RTV" that works well. We use Three Bond 1217H these days on most everything. Can get it in the mini-caulk tubes from the Nissan dealers. They have it at the best price.

GD

 

If you skip the thread sealer on the middle bolts, you can get oil seeping past the threads. The bolts had sealer applied originally by GM.

 

 

That might be more like the sealer that GM uses. Should work fine.

 

No need for the "High Temp" version. The reason to use the General Purpose over the High Temp is economy. .20oz of High Temp is $5-6. 1oz of Gen Purp is the same $5-6. So you get 5 times as much product for your kopeks. The 4oz bottle is under $10 and is pretty much a lifetime supply. The 1.7oz tube of High Temp is $13. A kopek saved is a kopek earned. Waste not, want not. Dang ol 401k, tell you what...

 

Teflon is the brand name for PTFE, Polytetrafluoroethylene

 

Only problem with the Teflon liquid is the stuff dries up in the bottle once it's been opened. It finally gets so thick it's useless. Maybe, if you seal it up in a ziploc baggy for storage. Aha, what an idea! Problem here at the shop is 3 guys using it. I'm sure the line techs aint gonna bother with the f-n baggy.

 

You want proper sealing and temp resistance - Loctite 545.

GD

 

This is probably the best example video of the use of RTV

follow this guys instructions and it should'nt leak - the little corner beads are where a lot of people go wrong