Intake is being shaved .060 on both sides. Really didn't budget for this to get the damn thing to fit.
Welcome to building a performance motor, rule # . Whatever you truly think you need, double it. I wish I was smart enough to know what it takes to make and know how to make things fit, I just know it doesn't make much cutting on the heads to mess things up. The bad thing about cutting the intake is it will now only fit with correctly with a block/head/gasket combo very similar. But it's cheaper than having the heads cuts
Where did you come up with .060"? Were the heads milled .060"?(doubtfully) The block was never decked, right? Unless told so the heads probably wouldn't be any more than .030" which would be typical. That's what I would've taken off the intake. The good news is if you take too much off the intake these days you can always get thicker composition intake gaskets to make up for it.
The heads were milled .040 and JW said that would be a good idea if using .030 TA intake gaskets. So I listened
Even though gaskets are made under .030 I prefer not to use the thinner as they are not stiff enough to not get sucked in sometimes
Seen it happpen to gaskets that were glued down even. If you or a buddy has a borascope you can use it to look down the ports to see how they line up when trying different thickness of gaskets. Here is a popular easy add in splash shield. Just put sealer under lay it on, sealer over then intake. https://www.ebay.com/itm/400-430-455-Buick-intake-oil-splash-shield-/254204997230 I have used these gaskets many times, I can normally get these alot faster than TA. Often times your local store can get them next day. I'm super lucky though we have a jegs and summit racing hoth about an hr away. https://www.jegs.com/i/Fel+Pro/375/...FbX9VCPOI---_2ThfPsPONWBiBjz733QaAqPqEALw_wcB
John, Do you have to modify your old valley pan to fit, of you buying one like PAE used to sell years ago?
I intend to modify my stock one, I don’t see a big benefit of using an aftermarket one unless I’m missing the benefit due to my understanding of the product.
I was not able to modify a stk one correctly or maybe I was just too impatient to work it out. On my new motor I used the bolt in over the cam unit TA sell works nice when done ar time of build......I got the bolts slightly off center together so it fights going on........the amp style to only issue I had was the ends get bent up a little if you take your intake on and alot, but some dont take theirs off in 20 years, mine for awhile was off every couple of months.....been almost 2 years now
**** to buy/do tomorrow: ✅-buy RTV ✅-intake washers ✅-intake Valley pan modification on old intake Valley pan ✅-front cover back on ✅-repaint intake? -return transmission pan gasket and filter -D batteries
Engine is almost fully back together and ready to fire. Taking a trip to visit family and then will be back after the new year to get it running. A question: do TA’s composite gaskets stand up well to hear from a mostly blocked off exhaust crossover?
DOD the gaskets have holes in them to allow the gases to pass through????? If not the gases will basically burn and cook the gaskets in that area. I had my passages plugged on my heads and my te2 heads dont even have them. Minus running a thermostatic choke or driving cold weather I dont see a major plus to having the intake being hot.......but if driving in colder areas it does keep the manifold warm and prevent icing......it helps some emissions too, but not many are too crazy about that side
New England is suitably chilly, 40s and 50s or higher, from March to November so I would like to not idle it forever to put some heat into the intake. The gaskets are an open design in that area. But, the holes are very small
The water pump was leaking when I poured coolant through the engine and radiator. RTV'd the piss out of it and waiting for it to dry for tomorrow.
