I take my carb off looks a bit on the thin side.... Looks like its sucking air..... FWIW I'm using one of these https://quadrajetpower.com/base-gasket-963-new/ What gasket is the preferred choice ? You can see the thin edge on intake... FWIW Edelbrock performer ....
Look on eBay and you'll find a bunch of them. I like the ones that are 1/4" thick that are open in the center and have plastic at the bolt holes that you don't break the carb ears.
Well I found this one. https://quadrajetparts.com/thick-insulating-base-gasket-p-96.html Looks it has more surface width around the butterflies to make a better seal on the Carb Base & intake...... Problem is Quadrajet parts is history... As far as Flea bay quadrajet part sellers go that is never happening again...... Them POS don't know the first thing about they are selling.... The last job they had was working fast food. I looked at Kens carb site he don't show one..... I will not buy from quadrajet power. The gasket in post #1 is what that POS sold me.
I use the stock base gasket for the 1976 455. It is FelPro brand, 1/4" thick and available through my local parts store. It is the 4 hole design and will not affect flow into your intake due to being so close to the carb.
I did find his site looks like he has one that got more surface width. https://cliffshighperformance.com/product/quadrajet-flange-gasket-250-thick For some reason I can't buy or join his site...... I''ll send him a PM though V8.
TA sells one too, Page 42 of catalog. Think it would be TA 1247. I think the OEM one was originally only 0.125” thick. If the surface has become a little warped you might have more success with the Felpro one, which is also the cheapest, only $4.49 at O’Reilly’s. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...fdfb5102/fel-pro-carburetor-gasket/fel0/60151 The Felpro one I got for the 68 OEM intake has some kind of rubber mixed in and is pliable so can form better to surface in my opinion. All the other ones I could find to buy are just paper like material. The Felpro one for that carb may also be like that. I like the Felpro ones but Cliff’s makes high quality ones too. I got one of those to compare too when I was researching them for mine.
That 1247 looks a lot wider around the vales than what ai been using...... I PM'ed Cliff got a hold over me fast.... here's pics of what I was using. EBAY junk.... Needs to be wider than that 1/4 '' The https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...fdfb5102/fel-pro-carburetor-gasket/fel0/60151 looks like is junk like what I got but thiner
Hmm, from the looks of it, it appears your intake opening is MUCH larger than the QJet base. Has it been hogged out?
It’s the Edlebrock Performer (Edlebrock Part # 2146 I believe). It looks different than stock but takes a Quadrajet supposedly with stock carb to intake gasket.
Can you post a pic of your "junk" gasket sitting on your manifold so we could see what it looks like? It looks like your manifold has threaded inserts on all the carb mounting holes? Did you do that? Or did you buy the intake used from someone? New intakes are threaded directly into the aluminum, no inserts. Just trying to figure out if someone may have monkeyed with the intake before you got it.
Your original gasket looks like it was doing the job. It should have no problem sealing the carburetor unless you have something else going on there. How did you determine that you had a vacuum leak?
Maybe it's time to straight edge the manifold and carb surface to make sure it's flat. The carb could be warped! Bob H.
I have found that, like seemingly everything else, the quality of carb mount gaskets has gone down the toilet. Specifically, the gaskets with the torque limiter grommets. The gasket part shrinks up too much, and the limiters prevent the gasket from properly sealing. The slightest leak here causes all sorts of problems.
So a plain Jane gasket is a better option. I had to remove one of those torque limiter gaskets to run that 14 x 3.5" racing air cleaner you gave me the part number for. It just cleared using a Felpro gasket.
Used intake on used car... Yes it has inserts. The factory threads where shot on a few mounting holes so I put inserts in all the holes...
Pic 1 To me the blackish air/oil residue on the left & right sides of the intake port looks where the gasket has VERY little contact looks like its sucking air....
I have a plane Jane gasket. that's stamped for use on 68-72 Buick it is also has very thin surface area on the sides..