I have a huge dilema with my new Dart Pro1 180cc heads. The stock TPI base does not provide enough material around the center intake ports to provide enough surface area to properly seal on the gasket. Has anyone ran into this before?

What size intake runners do the aftermarket TPI base manifolds have? Do they have thicker walls or provide more sealing area around the intake runners? My only option if an aftermarket base won't cure it is to weld material around the center bolt holes, surface the manifold and go for it but that is not what I want to do.

I am officially shutdown until I get this resolved.

Thanks for any input guys.

 

I dont know about your stock dillema but the aftermarket intake has more meat in the inside and top area.

 

Unless the heads have been ported to a 1206 gasket,,, the intake should cover the out of the box heads with a 1205 gasket. No offense meant here, but if you're using an oversized gasket like a 1206, the blue elastomer seal may show,, but unless the heads have been ported, the intake will cover a 1205 gasket ---- unless the ports on the heads have been slightly raised. if that's the case,, you would have to elongate the bolt hole openings for the gaskets to line up though. If the bolt holes and intake ports line up on the gaskets and the heads,,, measure the width and heigth of the port openings to determine the appropriate sized gasket. I don't know the circumstances,, but if the heads are slightly larger than the opening of a 1205,, and the fiber part of the gasket overhangs a little you can trim that back to the blue seal "ring" and if the 1205 gasket doesn't overhang then,,, the intake should still work. Hope that helps.

 

The heads were not ported any more than how they came from the box. They do have a 180cc intake runner which makes it taller and wider than stock. I currently have Mr.Gasket intake seals which fit the head great but the elastomer seal is visible when the intake base is installed.

I attached a couple of pictures. One of the intake installed and one that shows the outline of the gasket opening on my intake. You can see the big difference between the intake opening and the opening in the heads.

If an aftermarket base fixs this problem then so be it, but the intake will not seal if I bolt it down right now.

 

Most of the time the gaskets are fractionally larger than the actual head opening. If that is the case you can elongate the top of the gasket holes and drop the gasket down and trim the top of the opening to the bottom of the elastomer seal. Since the right side of the picture appears to have more meat than the other, it looks like there's a little core shift in that intake or the gasket - all the intakes I've been porting are the 85 and 86 F-body intakes and Vette intakes,,,, and they appear to less "contoured" and more square around the ports. If you'll post a picture of the gasket on the intake,,, I'll be able to say for sure if you'll be able to get it to seal. MR Gasket used to have a serious quality control problem back in the early 90s and I quit using them,, so I don't know if they corrected it. If the drawn opening doesn't match the heads perfectly,,, it may be "OK" enough to at least get by with the drop down trick. If the gaskets match the heads perfectly,, then you're going to have to go aftermarket.

 

I have posted a picture on how the gasket matchs the heads, which is good. Also a picture of the gasket to the stock base both on the mating side both on and off the head.

Will Fel-Pro gaskets #1205 work better than the Mr.Gaskets? or should I get an Edelbrock base to cure the problem? Again my concern is that the lack of area beteen the base and heads will provide a good sealing surface.

 

The elastomer seal on the felpro gaskets are a lot tighter to the opening than those pictured. I believe if you don't port the intake all the way to the top of the gasket opening,, matching it fractionally smaller than the actual head opening and get a set of Felpro 1205 gaskets to use as the template for the base porting (you still might have to trim the gasket a little and elongate the bolt hole opens to drop it a fraction of an inch),,, the stock base should seal OK. If you're not planning on hogging the stock intake out,,, and you have the money to spend on the aftermarket base,,, perfromance wise with the 383,,, you'll be much happier (even though the stock one should seal off if care is taken).

 

I almost always use Fel-Pro gaskets and haven't had any problems with them. I would get the Edelbrock base, port and smooth it out, and install it to make a lot more power than with the stock base.

 

I ordered an edelbrock so I will see in a few days if that solves my problem. I will also try a FelPro 1204 or 1205 gasket.

Thanks for everyones help!