I am installing my Edelbrock intake manifold onto my aluminum AFR heads. Should I put any kind of thread sealer or anything on the bolts before they go into the heads? Thanks.

 

white pipe thread sealer. The Permatex stuff that comes in a tube works best...

 

i prefer loctite PST, but it's all about the same, liquid teflon. some of the bolt holesare open to the lifter valley and that is where the oil puddles on the intake come from. i'd buy some stainless bolts too for any bolt that screws into aluminum.

 

I used Permatex's aircraft type sealant. Comes in a little bottle at any parts store. Same stuff you put on the headbolts.

 

Aluminum or Iron heads?I use threadsealant on iron though you don't have to, on aluminum you definitly need some form of antisieze compound or you could strip the bolt holes quickly.

 

Always use sealer, no matter what the heads are made out of. Those bolts go into the crankcase, and if they're not sealed, they will put puddles of oil on the intake.

Most aluminum heads come with Heli-Coils in all the bolt holes. If they don't, put them there. Then you don't have to worry about soft threads.

The Teflon thread sealer from whatever mfr (automotive, not hardware store pipe dope) is about the best thing to use.

 

intake manifold bolts go into the crankcase?

 

Crankcase, block, intake valley....all cast iron on a SBC

 

Here's a pic of the underside of a head. This one happens to be a Dart head, but stock heads are the same in this regard.

You're looking at the underside of the head, the deck surface; the holes in the lower part of the pic are water passages and headbolt holes. Toward the top of the pic is the intake flange, from the rear underside. You can see the light coming through the intake bolt holes. They're right above the lifters, about 3 inches from the lifters themselves, and the push rods go right behind them. In fact if you use too long of bolts for the intake, in some heads, some of them will hit the push rods.