Referring to the gaps between the head, and the gasket there? If so, that's nothing to worry about. It isn't a sealing surface there. Just the way the heads are cast.

ok, well the intake is finally off, and the plenum is finally off as well. definitely had a leak thats for sure. regardless, thats besides my point. my intake is an EGR intake. as i was looking into the manifold, i noticed, holy ****, the egr tube going into the intake takes up a LOT of air space. seems very restricting to me IMHO. soooooo i'm debating. should i just say screw it, take my hughes kit, replace the gasket and plenum, and slap it back together? or just get a new intake, cuz quite honestly, it looks ridiculous. im no engineer, but damn. also, theres a sensor or something at the very back of the engine by the distributor that i seemed to have broken off. what is that? i'll be needing a replacement lol

hell, i'd be happy with a modded kegger if anyone had one for sale ;-)

The sensor at the back you broke is most likely the oil pressure sensor. Don't start the engine without that in place. Gets REAL messy right quick. :D

Yeah, the 95's still had EGR.... my manifold had the provisions for it, but, nothing else. (no valve, or other plumbing.) Guess it was just leftovers from 95 model year. Some folks have eliminated the EGR, and not had a problem. Others kept getting the EGR code.... up to you what ya wanna do there.

well, i didn't break the actual part off that goes into the engine. just the sensor part. but it'll get replaced regardless obviously lol

i'm just debating. i've seen the inside of both egr and non egr manifolds, and there is a LOT of difference in air flow and space. the egr is so restricting, and to be honest, whos the freaking retard that thought it would be a good idea to bring exhaust gasses back into the intake? damn government and the EPA.

again, regardless, i've decided that i'm not going to put this one back on if i can help it. i really want to get the air-gap manifold, but just can't fork over the pennies at the moment. so, for the time being, a modded kegger would suit me just fine. lol if anyone knows of anyone that has one for sale, send 'em my way, i'm interested.

Check the classified section here. Also, check local junkyards. You want one from a 97 truck, or, a 96 that does NOT have the EGR block off plate where the valve should be.

The idea behind EGR was to cool combustion temps (as exhaust wouldn't burn...) so that you could run a bit more timing..... better fuel economy/less emissions that way. Such fun.

Thanks HeyYou, I was a little worried about the gap (between the head and block I think?)..kinda odd they're different sizes

well, now the debate is whether to save up the money for a air gap, or just buy a non egr kegger off ebay for $40. lol

I picked up an intake form JY for $25 and modded it and put on shelf until I got ready to install and gather up timing set and other parts such as e-bay plenum plate.

I then slapped it on and put old intake on shelf in storage bldg out back. I could sell it to you pretty cheap, but shipping would cost more. Check your local JY. I got mine cheap, and asked parts puller to leave fuel rail, injectors, and TB.....

money talks lol and i dont have a lot of talking ability right now lol. so i'm probably gonna end up getting a kegger and modifying it.