[Mike S]

I had an intake gasket failure so I am changing the gasket. I used a tin Indian gasket .063 thick and the intake sits high making port match off. I bought some mr gasket material .015 thick and made gaskets, Port alignment is right on the money. I used light coat of silicone applied with my finger. Do you think there would be any problem with that thin of a intake gasket?

I had the alignment issue when I built the engine 4 years ago. I think it was milling the heads to clean up the surface. I was in a hurry to get it running for race season so lived with it and then forgot all about it till now.

[steve25]

You should be fine, just after the first 2 or 3 full heat up and cool down sessions retorque the bolts .
When you do this loosen the water pump bolt a little, but no so much that you get a leak.

[Tim Corcoran]

I bought a Victor intake years ago and it was machined wrong from the factory. The port alignment was way off but when I set it on the heads without a gasket the alignment was perfect. The Felpro gasket that I normally use is .040 so I had two choices. Take my manifold to a machine shop and have them mill off .040 or put it together without a gasket. I chose the second choice. I put a thin layer of silicone around the ports on the heads and the cross over water ports and raced it like that for many years, never had a leak. Now I'm building a new engine and will be using the same heads and intake. If the port alignment is good without a gasket I'll do the same thing.

[CraigG.]

Wow - will that work with E85 and what kind of gasketing - silicone?

Thanks, Craig

[Tim Corcoran]

Silicone, and the fit is tight so I don't think it would be affected by alcohol