when i was taking the distributor out i had to pry under it a bit but didn't know i had left these marks. am i ok just putting in the new gasket or should i put some RTV just in case.

 

Ya know for years I ran SBC's without a gasket at all...never knew one was available...never had a leak.

My *guess* would be unless you have blowby into the intake valley, you'll be okay.

Someone else will probably slam me, but that's my experience.

 

Well, the intake valley is just another part of the crankcase, so whatever pressure or vacuum is in the rest of it will also be there, just like under the valve covers. It's all one big chamber, well interconnected by numerous oil drainback holes.

I can't really tell how deep those gouges are or anything; but if they look too deep for a dist gasket to make up for, just fill the damage with JB Weld and sand it back down smooth. Don't use RTV in any case, since it does become necessary to adjust it from time to time.

 

No Slam here..but I had just the opisite experience.....I didnt know there was a gasket there either but after replacing the valve cover gaskets twice, I figured it out...

 

what are you in the process of doing?
You know, I had a leaking Oil pressure sending thingy awhile back...be careful with that thing...make sure its nice and sealed before you put all that back together cause its a pain to get to when everything is there..

Im talking about that brass fitting...

 

Left mine out on first start...pumped out a quart...Quick!!!!!!

 

i just got done changing the intake gasket on an S10 pickup. the marks were not that deep and so far everything looks good with no leaks. i put thread sealer on all the bolts, the sending unit and the fitting it's attatched to. only thing i forgot to do is put gasket maker on the intake side of the intake gasket, around the water jackets. i only put it on the head side i hope this wont cause a problem. i really dont want this thing to leak anything, anywhere.

for the china walls i used permatex Right Stuff sealer. i read on some old posts that it may work better than RTV.