Looking for some second opinions
 

First off, so sorry if this is not where I am supposed to post this I am new. Here is what I got though. I have very limited mechanical experience but like doing it so last semester I decided what the heck I am going to buy an old 1999 Ram V8 360 and rebuild the whole engine. So I did it and despite a leaky injector on the start up the thing actually started and ran. Awesome! But after 1,000 miles on my new engine I was 3 Qts. oil low. Vacuum test shows issue with the intake. I am assuming my plenum is the culprit as I have no oil leaks that would give off 3 qts of oil. I don't understand why it is leaking when I installed the hughes engine aluminum plate replacement, torque to speck and used lock tight. Next issue, it appears my passenger cylinder head is leaking a little oil at cylinder 8 which after reading the post at the top of this thread cylinder 8 spark plug gets oil fouled really fast do to the oil vapors. So here are my questions: Why would my plenum be leaking with the hughes aluminum plate replacement? Is 84 in-lbs just to little? or maybe did I over do the torque? Also, are the oil vapors being sucked into cylinder 8 and during compression being pushed out around the cylinder head gasket causing what looks like a small oil leak? What should I do to fix this issue? I was thinking getting the Hughes air-gap intake that does not have a plenum to fix the whole issue but do you think I need to replace the cylinder head gasket still? Opinions appreciated. I am new to all of this just picked it up from a Chilton's manual and my own intuition.

I realize this is long after your original post, but on many engines pressurized oil does go thru the head and head gaskets.
IE. overhead cam engines.
The magnum does not, but many do.

I am well aware of that, but, in this instance, it isn't the case.

My buddy and I did our plenum gaskets this past weekend with Fel-Pro gaskets and an aluminum plate. The job wasn't too bad; just time-consuming. I found a nice quality aluminum plate on ebay for $50 (basically the same as the Hughes plate). I think we spend $110 in parts per truck. Only broke one intake manifold bolt between the two trucks.

His '92 was actually a lot harder than mine due to all of the extra vacuum lines under his hood. Oddly, it's a much more complicated situation under the hood than my '01.

They both run exactly the same; we'll see if oil consumption gets better.

A word of warning if your plate comes with replacement bolts; the ones that came with mine were shorter than OEM and with the added thickness of the plate, I didn't get enough "bite" into the intake and stripped out a couple threads before I realized what was happening. I ended up just re-using the OEM bolts.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/dodgefo...bc25643576.jpg

I had previously read that the OEM bolts "bottom out" when used with the steel plate and don't properly compress the gasket. I can 100% confirm that to be true. Look how much space there is here, even with the bolt all the way in!
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/dodgefo...feb32e0bcb.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/dodgefo...0d7c36e632.jpg

So dirty, I even found a worm in there! haha Amazingly, this little guy found his way in while the intake was setting on the grass.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/dodgefo...9e60de396c.jpg

BTW, no need to crack open the AC system; just unbolt the compressor and move it to the side.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/dodgefo...33e4d113d1.jpg

I'll add a little note here for any future readers. Be sure to clean or replace your charge temperature sensor when you replace the plenum plate. I finally did mine and it combined with replacing my defective Engine Temp Sensor fixed my idling and running issues. I didn't take any pictures but mine was coated with oil to the point where even the white plastic cage around the sensor was brown.

That is a VERY valid point. :) And one of the main reasons I buy the vehicles I do. My last one, that I paid 1500 bucks for, and put maybe a grand into, lasted me 7 years. I would probably still be driving it if my current truck hadn't popped up at the right price. :D

I also recently had this done. The 2000 Ram I had in '06 didn't present with any issues but it did have the "death tune". My '97 was terrible with oil consumption, det, low power etc, etc... (No death tune).
I had ordered the Hughes kit and it was sitting on the bench waiting for me to find time to do the job. Then my water pump seized up on the way to work and I had to have my truck towed. My work schedule has been hectic so I ended up having "my mechanic" do it for me. I normally fix all my own **** but this guy does my inspections. He's an old mopar drag racing type of dude, so that gave me comfort.. It cost me about 700 for the water pump and intake fix complete, and he had it for about a day and a half, which I didn't think was terrible. My gasket was blown out on 3 sides and I had half a quart of oil sitting in the lifter valley. I couldn't believe the difference in overall performance. It was worth every penny. My only regret is not buying the hughes intake. I have only noticed a very slight increase in mpg. If I put 50 bucks in I'll get about 240-260 miles out.

...now its onward to get rid of these friggin 3.55 gears because these 285/75R16 tires are killing me.

You really want 4.10s with those. I have 4.56 and 285's, and its just too much gear. Especially towing on the highway.....

Yessir, 4.10 is what I'm after. Doing the math, I'd be back to stock with a ratio of 3.91. So 4.10 would give me a little bit extra.