Intake/Exhaust Gaskets for Ported Iron Heads

So im going to start the port work on my heads, intake manifold, and exhaust manifolds after my machine shop opens up the iron heads to the stage 1 specs. I want to start port matching the gaskets, these Felpro gaskets are for "high performance" engines I guess because the gaskets are made for a porting in mind. I'm just building a mild street motor, but it seems like this is a great choice.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...80046-P?searchTerm=intake+manifold+gasket+set

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...20680532-P?searchTerm=exhaust+manifold+gasket

So has anyone used these? Do you like it? Are these correct for what I want to do? I know TA has that new lifter tray baffle, and to be honest i can make it and so i wont have to use the valley pan.

http://taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_1738-455

Give me your thoughts, thanks guys!

 

So, I can’t answer your question, but I’m imagining you would open the heads, then port, and finally the three angle valve job?

 

That's correct, but I want to pick a good quality gasket as well one with bigger port holes. So I did order the gaskets above and I'll see how they work out.

 

You dont always need to open the ports out to the gasket, just square the irregular shape up, taking the port opening out to the gasket can and most likely slow the velocity

 

Christopher,

1st. off let me say BUICK DID NOT USE GASKETS FOR THE EXHAUST. They were a metal-metal fit from the factory. This was for heat dissipation for cooling purposes. Bring your exhaust manifolds to a machine shop & get the "Faces" resurfaced to make them flat again. IF you are going to use gaskets use the Rem-Flex gaskets as they are all copper & will help to dissipate the heat. Yeah they are more costly, BUT in all honesty how many times are you going to replace the exhaust manifold gaskets & finally threw your hands up in disgust.
Why not use the stock metal intake gasket that the engine was originally designed for??? In stead of the composite gaskets that WILL NOT dissipate heat as well as a metal gasket.
Your NOT building a high performance engine just something that's slightly better than stock.
Why drive yourself crazy doing unnecessary mods that aren't really needed???

Just my thoughts on the subject

What are others thoughts??? Am I off base hear???

Tom T.

 

exhaust metal to metal X2

 

I'm doing it to get expirence and prove to myself I can make a bad ass motor with stock parts. It's necessary to port in order to get the numbers I'm looking for, and more so when I want to put a bigger cam in it one day and go faster, all my port work will be done to except a 600 lift cam. I don't need it now but I like to think that I can just swap the cam and have a more powerful motor when I decide to go bigger. And gasket matching in my case will be removing about a 1/16 of material which won't hurt flow, it will keep the flow very smooth from intake right out the exhaust manifolds. I have the advice from some great porters and I know what to do now.

 

Chris, Focus on intake flow first.

 

Oh, and unshrouding the larger valves.

 

Will do Mike! You think it's necessary to do the unshrouding on the exhaust side?

 

Hey Chris,
Conventional wisdom says it's an air pump; get as much air in...and out as possible.
Depending on your cam choice it may not be noticeable but if you look at what the engineers did with the Stage 2 heads; the exhaust side needed help. Un-shrouding the exhaust valves isn't as dramatic as removing the dog leg in the standard head but increasing to Stage 1 exhaust valves without doing the un-shrouding is like leaving that last piece of pizza in the box. You already paid for it, you might as well eat it!

Bad analogy, I know! But if you're going that far with it, why not go all the way?!?!

 

The Intake port area at the Head flange with your casting number is more then enough to support 550 hp with a motor of your cid, so as long as things atleast line up, or the head port is even just 1/32" larger the then exit of the Intake Manifold you are golden!

The most critical matching of areas for max power with your combo will be at the top of the port and the side of the port that is on the biggest radius side of the runners in your Intake Manifold as seen here.
The more gentler curve of a runner in a Intake that is not in line of sight with the back of the Intake valve will always carry the most flow mass!

The other important thing to keep in mind for having a wide as possible power band from your motor is that there should be only one pinch point/ choke point area wise in regards to the whole Intake tract,in other words from the entrance of the runners in the Manifold Plenum to the back side of the Intake valve.

If you get your hands on a set of inside snap gauges and a cheap plastic dial caliper you will soon see how bad the factory Intake and even a few aftermarket intakes are in this regard to port area!

 

Steve, you're the man! Always have good knowledge to give me. As for the manifold, I'm going with the edelbrock b4b, that's the only aftermarket part I'm going with regarding things that I'm porting, and I will definitely look at the manifold when I get it. I was watching a video about how edelbrock has a lot of manifolds that they make in mind that porting is going to be done. So when I get the manifold I'll definitely gasket match it for a seamless flow into the head and look at the biggest radius side and try to make a better transition into the intake valve.

 

Hey Phillip!
The sway bar you gave me is making a huge difference in my car with the new tubular control arms I put in, thanks again.

And yeah you're right, I kinda knew the answer when I was writing the question, the exhaust needs to flow better too. So I will definitely do it.

 

How much unshrouding is necessary when stepping up to stage 1 exhaust valves from regular valves?

I’m considering keeping the small intake valves and going with stage 1 exhaust valves on some 71 heads.

 

Thanks Larry, great pics. Doesn’t look like much

 

After looking at my heads I'll be taking a maximum of 1/8 for the unshrouding. Some spots I'll take .001. I think that's where the gasket helps out a lot.

 

You can see in Larry's pic that it's not much more than a chigger bite!
You'll never notice it if you do it and you will never miss it if you don't.

But Chris, for you--wanting to expand your knowledge and abilities so you can pursue a career in some automotive/restoration field; by all means do it!
You'll gain the experience. You can say "I did it."
You'll gain knowledge. You can say "I know how to do it."
You'll gain wisdom. You can say "I'll never do it again" or " I'm going to open a head porting business with Stage 1 conversions and
exhaust valve un-shrouding as my specialty."

 

I would love to have my restoration career spealizing in Buick's. We have some amazing guru's on this site and I want to be the person that passes it on when they are gone.