OK let me start this off with its a 1987 camaro with a 305 with Edelbrock Carburetor and intake.. the car has new rings (new cam main and rod bearings) less than 500 mils on rebuild..i have been driving the car very easy just trying to get some miles on it 2 weeks ago i decided to jump on the gas she took off real nice got about a mile down the road and died.the car would not idle i had to bump it up on the carb to get home ran fine just would not run on a low idle...

i sprayed carb cleaner on the intake and the car's idle came up!!
so i got some new intake gaskets thinking i must of been off on putting on the gaskets the last time.. put the new set on car ran very good drove the car for 2 weeks never really getting on it till Saturday pulling out of work put my foot down and she took off was like dam its running good got like a mile and a half down the road and the dam thing stalled got it to re fire got down the road and it stalled had to get out bump the idle up to get home..

at this point i have not touched it since i got it home lots of snow.. i have had this car for like 7 years and the Edelbrock intake was on the car the day i got it so it could be 8 or 9 years old.. it has been off the car for like a year in a half siting on a shelf..im thinking it may be warped??

for other reasons i have had this intake off like 3 times in the last 2 months but only one time since i have been driving it.. what ever info or suggestions would be appreciated

 

It sounds like a fuel, timing, or carb adjustment issue. Doesn't sound anything like an intake gasket problem. Are you sure you set/dialed in the timing correctly when you removed the intake? Has the carb been cleaned since it sat? Maybe there is junk/gummy gas in the jets/floats.

 

i rebuilt the carb before putting it all together!!!
if the intake gaskets are not sealed it just one big *** vacuum leak?? thats why if you spray carb cleaner on the sides of the intake it idles up??..the timeing is right the car has been running good for 2

 

So when you spray carb cleaner you are doing it not directly into the carb, but instead on the side of the intake? If that is the case, and the RPM is rising, than I too suspest a vacuum leak. Did you clean the surface of the heads so that there isn't any sign of old gasket material? This goes for the intake flange as well. What about vacuum ports that run off the carb? Are any upcapped? Do any vacuum lines have cracks?

 

no did a very good job cleaning every thing up before re doing the gaskets.. only one line off the carb going to the vacuum advanced it a brand new line..the other port on the carb has a new cap on it yes carb cleaner not into the carb just on the sides of the intake

 

I'm 90% sure its the intake gaskets but why would it do this 2 times now other than a warped intake

 

shot in the dark

If the block or heads have had work, it may not seal right.

 

Its pretty hard to warp an intake, in fact I have never heard of it happening. You could pull it and check the flange with a straight edge to be sure. Are you using the correct intake gaskets? With RTV where the gaskets meets the china walls?

 

i did have a valve job done on one of the head's and the guy gave it a shave but that was just the head gasket side.. the block only had a hot dip

 

it is a aluminum intake if that helps?

i am useing the intake gaskets that the parts store gives me lol it should be the same for most SBC other than the 8 bolt ones and the 70s blocks it says on the box for 305 350 and a few others

 

and yes good RTV on the front and back

 

I have just heard its possible for them to get off with each other, dunno what or how much it takes.

I can tell you when I re-did the gasket on my 350 I was told to goop it for a long life. I used silicone around the water ports and for the china wall, and for around the intake ports I used a thin layer of ThreeBond 1194 on both sides of the steel gasket.

My leak was the kind that only happened under hard load and it was leaking on the bottom side, could see the trace where it would suck oil from the lifter valley / no way to tell it was leaking by a top side running test like yours did. The smoke on hard load was a sign, once intake was off the oil tracks confirmed it.