I've heard so many people having to redo the installation so I'm planning to get it right the first time.

The new gaskets came with a tube of sealant for the front + back rails on the engine block. Do I let the sealant sit for 15 minutes before dropping the intake on it, or do I specifically have to drop the intake on it immediately and complete the job under 5 minutes?

Also, I've heard I should use some sealant on the gaskets themselves. Do I spread it all around the gasket or just on the coolant passages (1 front + 1 back)?

 

These are good directions, from JEGS:

-Use only recommended intake gaskets set when installing this intake manifold.
- Fully clean the cylinder head intake flanges and the engine block end seal surfaces.
- Apply Edelbrock Gasgacinch sealant PN 9300 to both cylinder head flanges and to the cylinder head side of the gaskets, allow to air
dry, and attach the intake gaskets.
- Do not use cork or rubber end seals. Use RTV silicone sealer instead. Apply a ¼" high bead across each block end seal surface,
overlapping the intake gasket at the four corners. This method will eliminate end seal slippage.
- Install the intake manifold and hold-down bolts. On applications with pre-1995 cylinder heads, apply a small amount of silicone to
the threads of the eight inner bolts (1,2,3,4,5,7,9 & 11 in Figure 2) to prevent oil weepage, as generally these are not blind holes
in the cylinder head. Torque all of the manifold bolts in two steps by the sequence shown in Figure 2 to 25 ft/lbs.
- Install the intake manifold and hold-down bolts. On applications with Vortec or E-Tec cylinder heads, torque all of the manifold bolts
in two steps by the sequence shown in Figure 3 to 11 ft/lbs

taken from this link:
http://www.jegs.com/InstallationInst...0/350-2701.pdf

 

That's how mine was installed, been on there for 7 years w/no issues.

 

There's plenty of ways to install the intake....different sealants...etc.

The above instructions sound pretty good. Not too difficult, but it can be botched like anything else if you rush it. Just the fact that you're asking tells me you want to do it right..

Making sure both the intake gasket sealing surfaces on both the head and intake are fully clean can't be over-emphasized...they gotta be clean. Doesn't hurt to spray a rag with carb cleaner and give both surfaces a full wipe down. Any old oil residue will prevent the sealer from sticking.

I use the liquid type thread sealer on the bolt threads mentioned above. Sometimes if you don't seal the threads, you could end up with small puddles of oil sitting on your intake...not good.

 

Actually, I don't even recommend using RTV. Go and buy a product called the Right Stuff made by Permatex. It's the best stuff to use for end rail sealant. When compared to RTV, it's not cheap but it's far better than RTV in the long run.

 

Ok, I got the job done. Picture here:
http://aijaa.com/img/b/00294/13106980.jpg

I thought I did a good job with the sealants and all but I have two concerns:

1. As I was focused on the sealants and their curing time, I forgot to install the little bracket next to the thermostat housing. Should I risk breaking the seal and remove those 2 bolts or should I just not install the bracket? It's supposed to hold the fuel lines in place.
Same thing happened with the EGR solenoid.. but I'm not running EGR anyway.

2. The sealant on the gaskets squeezed out when I torqued the bolts. It's probably going to block the coolant passages a little from the edges. Is this a problem?

 

You should be fine to remove the bolts to install the bracket and the seal shouldn't break…just make sure to torque them back where they were.

It would take one heck of a lot of sealant to block the cooling passages...

 

Thats what I use to! The stuff works great, and it comes in a cheeze wiz looking can and is easy to apply. A mechanic friend of mine told me about it, he uses it all the time on he problematic GM V'6s. He's done dozens of them and has never had one leak using the Right Stuff.