The Cal-look Lounge

What is everyone using for their ported intakes? I bought a sheet of mr. gasket so that I could make my own but the material seems very cheap and doesnt cut clean. Does it really matter what gasket is used as long as the manifold stays tight? Thanks.

Are you using the grey stuff or the white gasket material?

The Berg gaskets seem to be the longest lasting and nice and thick. I buy the bulk pack.

Ditto!

Have any of you guys tried running without gaskets at all? Using Loctite 515 or 518 flange sealant, I haven't run gaskets on either the Blue Car or my wife's daily driver for years. As long as the manifold surfaces are flat, a thin coating of flange sealant works very well and you will have fewer problems with intake leaks from gaskets sucking in or the manifolds working loose.

Its gray on one side and white on the other with mr.gasket printed on it.


I did a seach on cal-look.com and found that some, including you, do what you described with success. I was thinking about it, but how can I make sure that the surfaces are flat. Straight edge? The thin top surface between the ports is giving me the most problems.

Thanks for the help.

I think I'd stick with gaskets on my car, at least.... for a coupla reasons...

one, for the heat insulator job they do (Berg gaskets are that thick)
two, for the cushion they give

That Loctite 518 does work really well though!!!!

And Berg gaskets are the only ones with the holes for the studs small enough to prevent movement.

this is interesting mike hadnt thought about this.that must be a thin strip between the ports.

The 11mm nuts I am using might be causing the problem. They do not really have a shoulder, so it seems that they dig into the manifold and do not tighten.

Do nylocks work on intake manifolds. Does heat eventually deteriorate the nylon?

Nylocks do work. It's just a matter of if they will fit your manifolds. If you melt the nylon out of the nuts, that would be the least of your problems!

A bit of history....
I had troubles with my intakes on the Blue Car rattling loose on a run. I used the 11mm nuts when I first built it. I found that 13mm nylocks fit fine and minimzed the problem, but they would still come loose from the gasket squishing out and sometimes sucking in. I decided to try the "no gasket" scheme. I found my intake manifolds were no longer flat, but bent over at the ends where the bolts tighten down. A big flat file and a few draws on the manifolds straightened them out and I tried the loctite 518.....and never looked back.

Granted, this is on a car that sees very little street time. So......
I also did this with Cindy's ghia which is driven daily and has seen some big mileage road trips. Absolutely flawless.

To each their own. The "No Gasket" thing works for me. If you are having difficulty and nothing else seems to work, it won't hurt to try it. It's only work and about 10 bucks for a tube of flange sealant. If you end up not using it for intakes, it works great on case halves too. In fact, it's the only sealant I use anymore for anything.

If you're having no trouble with your set-up, then what you're doing works and there's no need to change.... unless your sick and tired of custom trimming intake gaskets to fit the ports!

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you put sealant on the thin area between the ports?

I have never used 518. How do you keep it from running down into the ports?

It's thick stuff. About the consistency of gel type toothpaste. I apply it with my fingertip and put just enough to coat the surface and not so much that it squishes out. Thin. Really thin. And yes, all the way around the port. It won't dry until the pieces are mated, just like most loctite anaerobic products.

Cool! Thanks for the tip Mike. I will give it a shot on the next engine.

Does anybody have an experience with "carb dampener" style carb-to-manifold gaskets thet CB sells? Very thick injected urethane I believe.