So on my car someone used red high temp silicon for manifold gaskets and when I get around to it, what type of gaskets work to best to seal them? I will also change the pipe to manifold gaskets as well. What does everyone seem to have good luck with?
id use header gaskets be carefull pulling the bolts for some reason stock f.e. exhaust manifold bolts love to break off in the head
i've never had a sealing issue just using the regular fel-pro manifold gaskets. and 57/60 is right on about the bolts, the uppers go thru the ears so they rust from both sides, use some penetrating oil- let it set for a day and use a light touch taking them off. if you need silicone there is something wrong with the manifold/head. with headers i'd go with the good soft metal header gaskets, the big square ports dont leave much material in the corners and the paper ones always blew out on mine...the headers were p.o.s so they might be fine for everyone else tho
I like to use stock fel pro gaskets. The ones with the perforated metal and paper construction. I have replaced regular header gaskets with stock type metal and paper gaskets and stopped leaks. Warped headers are another thing altogether.
Definitely fel pro on the inlets. Seems weird someone has used silicone. Maybe the manifold has been machined down. Check to see if the ports on the heads line up with the manifold.
I don't use gaskets on my manifold, and they came with no gaskets from Ford. As long as the manifolds are in a fair condition that is.
Are you sure? I have a '68 360 that from everything I can see hasn't ever been apart and you can visibly see the manifold gaskets. And Fel-Pro, with "Right Stuff" gasket sealer in the corners to answer the question.
FE's had metal shim gaskets from the factory and most of us when doing service work on the exhaust used the felpro's to go back together with. If your lucky enough to get the top 4 bolts out on each side take the time to purchase a set of stainless bolts and you will eliminate the broken bolt problems with the FE'S and if the hedders are pitted take them to a machine shop and have them milled to true the flat surface.
I'm sure they used it instead of buying gaskets. The engine looks to be fairly recent so hopefully they won't be difficult. There is one side that leaks bad and I'm not sure if it's the manifold it the pipe flange.
Do yourself a favor and check the gasket surfaces very carefully. The FE manifolds have pretty thin gasket surfaces unlike Chevys etc. They are a PITA. The cast iron can actually erode if the gasket has been leaking for a long time.(most of the ones that I did waited until they got really bad and needed more than just a gasket replacement. I always had a machine shop mill the gasket surfaces on the manifolds. They used a large bench top belt sander. It was cheap. Then it really doesn't matter which brand or type of gasket that you use. Trying to fill in gaps with gasket material won't last very long and you are back at it again. Get a 3 foot piece of rubber fuel line hose. Hold one end to your ear and pass the other end of the hose along the gasket area. You will easily find the source of the leak. Do both the top and the bottom.
Just had heads redone on our 64 galaxy 500/390 xl. All the top bolts were eroded enough that they didn't translate to any socket size. I begged for them to break so I could get them out of the car. Not so lucky on the drivers side. Oh yea and wear a back brace or get help w that intake hahaha! Less than 30% gasket left when we had finally pulled it all apart. New hardware, machine everything, take your time and seal corners w rtv use felpro and check hardware to insure it's still tight frequently after it's back together. Too many cars....so little time.
I think some of these responses are referring to the intake and some to the exhaust manifolds. Good advice on both but be sure to sort out what applies to what you are doing.
The cork gaskets on the intake leak most all of the time? I will use etc on the intake like I have in the past
That's a fact. I use felpro gaskets on about everything, but Victor gaskets are also good cost is comparable.
The old FE exhaust manifolds will seal very well if the manifold and the head surface are both clean and straight- part of a good valve job on an FE is a light surface on the exhaust side- they will seal without a gasket if everything's right. Lots of folks will put just a touch of high-temp RTV on there, but if everything's straight and true, it's not really necessary. If the heads are on the engine, a good cleanup of the head, straight manifolds, and the metallic gaskets will work First thing you do on an FE intake is file the cork end gaskets in the rotary file, and just use a fat bead of RTV on the ends, with a touch around the sealing flanges at the heads and it should eliminate the corner leaks. Check the fit first, as many old performance manifolds may have been cut in the past for milled heads, and may need some correction. The intake gasket will usually extend up a bit past the flange at the valve cover rail, you can just peen it a bit to whichever part, head or manifold, is lower, and the VC will seal up good. And make sure you install and locate it off the dizzy before torquing it down
use the gaskets with the preforated metal on one side ,they are made that way so the exhaust manifold. and head can expand and contract. and use anti seize on all the bolts with a good hard lock washers.Originally they had tabs you bent over to lock the bolt head.
Thanks for all the help guys. Hopefully this weekend I will get the brakes finished up and get to work on the engine. I have alot of work left to do yet and a tight budget.
Does it look like the head surface was cleaned up with the valve job? If they're used to doing FE's they would have made a light surfacing cut on the face of the head, and on the manifold to true them up square, and then no gaskets are required. A little high-temp RTV won't hurt. Making that little cut on the exhaust side of an FE head is standard with a good FE valve job, and the manifolds will seal just fine. If the head and/or manifold is rusty or rough, use the thin sandwich paper/metal gaskets. They usually come with valve grind gasket sets
I have no idea what was done. If its like anything else on the car it's half****ed. I just ordered some good ones.
Doing my 390 Camper special as we speak. NEVER use exhaust gaskets between the manifold and the heads on FEs. Have the surfaces milled both the head and manifold and but axle grease on the mating surface. I just fixed the leak on my 64 last fall and my DD gaskets blew out. No gaskets mean no gaskets to blow out. Been doing it this way since the late 70s. Also I use Ford gray RTV for international diesels instead of cork gaskets. I took the gaskets out of my heads set and tossed them in the trash. I was able to find a fresh set of heads with all surfaces done and hardened seat and fresh valve job for 150. 6 of the top 8 bolts broke off the old head manifold combo. I installed one new manifold (47 shipped to the house) and on resurfaced one 45.00 for the mill job.
I couldn't keep gaskets in my last 390. The old metal sandwich gaskets had grown into the metal of the head and were impossible to get cleaned off completely. I found the hi-temp silicon actually worked pretty good, no gasket. I also broke off a few of the top bolts. Sometimes you just can't avoid it. I have done several over the years by just drilling or torching (you have to be pretty handy with a torch) them out and go to a grade 8 5/16 bolt with nuts on the backside. That way you will never have to deal with broken bolts again.
I'm just starting into the saga of the FE 390 with own. What should I look for? Oh what is the correct color for a mid 60's 390? i know it isn't chevy orange.
I would resurface the heads and manifolds if I had it apart but I don't want to take it apart for that. I'm going to try the gasket and see if it works. I am keeping an eye out for headers anyways. I could see a gap at the top of the manifolds after I tightened them up on the first 3 cylinders
If your manifolds are that far out of square, you stand a good chance of them cracking in short order after you torque them down- castings don't like to be forced & twisted into shape. Only costs a few clams to have them shaved straight. Putting gaskets in there isn't going to fix that gap. What does the exhaust surface of the head look like- can you scrape it flat & smooth, or is it rough and pitted?
I finally have an FE without any exhaust leaks after years of trying. Anymore, I just use header gaskets (victo reinz) and just don't overtighten and warp the manifold. Chances are, the manifolds are no longer true and that is causing leaks. This is easy and cheap to fix by a machine shop that will just plane them. I only gave $25 for that service last time. If all else fails, just put a good stereo in the car. That fixes all but the most obnoxious exhaust leaks.
The Jalopy Journal
