So my SBC has new head gaskets and manifold gaskets on it. After running it for a few minutes, I noticed water in the oil. It turned milky pretty fast. I probably lost a couple cups of water. There are no external water or oil leaks. I've got good compression on all cylinders and there is no oil in the coolant. I'm thinking it is the manifold gasket. I installed the head gasket by the books and don't see how that could have blown already. Is there anyway to verify whether it's one or the other?

I don't have access to compressed air right now either, so a leak down test is out of the question.

 

My money is on the intake gasket being bad/not sealing.

Obviously do not run the engine with water in the oil, I woul pull the intake off and inspect the gasket for damage or being mis-aligned. You have to remove the intake to change a head gasket anyway, so its worth investigating.

 

The intake is off. The gasket seemed aligned properly, but parts of it were darker from a soaking color, I couldn't see any definite areas were it could have been leaking. I drained the coolant and there was absolutely no oil in it. I'm feeling like gambling and replacing the intake gasket only. Head gasket bolts are expensive.

 

You don't "have to" replace the bolts every time you remove the heads;
esp if they are fresh bolts

 

If they are torque to yield then yes, you have to replace them everytime. ARP's can be torqued multiple times.