I don't think it's a good idea to be using RTV on the gaskets themselves, just the corners and the front/rear of the valley.

 

for what it's worth, I think the process and quality of torquing the manifold is far more important than if you use RTV on the runner gaskets.. but I don't have a clue how folks could expect those cross block dowel gaskets to hold up without the stuff.

 

I think one of the main reason's they DON'T want you to use RTV on the gaskets is BECAUSE of how little torque there is on the bolts. Good chance it won't be enough to squeeze the gaskets down onto the RTV, so, you end up with leaks. Smearing a thin coat with your finger should be enough... I didn't use any when I did my intake. I don't have any leaks, and it's been a while.

 

This is great advice. RTV is crap and should be used sparingly only in the corners noted above.
Water pump. timing cover gaskets etc, I use copper kote spray. I spray the gasket, let it sit for a minute and assemble. Light coat is fine and dont over saturate. Never ever have had a leak.

 

I use RTV on the front and back and would never use a gasket there as they blowout to easy. I use a little bit of RTV on the gaskets around the ports too, not to much though. I did my intake once and my brother has used the same technique on his chevy and has had the intake on and off about 15 times and hasnt had a leaking problem yet

 

I'm holding the Fel Pro intake gaskets in my hand looking for the stamped "Manifold Side". There isn't one. I want to do this right and am being cautious. The P/N is MS 95392-1 and one side has blue stripes with a FelPro and R2 stamp. The other side is plain gray.

I'm assuming the stamped side means Manifold side. Anyone know for sure (the FelPro home site is useless)?

 

Unlike Mopar gaskets, there is no right side up. Some people like stripe side up. Some like stripe side down. Your call. There is no wrong or right answer.

 

Rampuppy, did you allow any time for the RTV to cure before you started driving? That may have been the problem. Usually people let it cure overnight. But you can get away with 6 hours.

 

Yes, it was cured before starting up. Since the air gap runners are much narrower than the kegger runners, I suspect the rtv created an uneven surface which, like HeyYou says, this and the low torque just compounded any surface imperfection.

I don't know what to think of the cross gaskets, I mean they were literally in pieces by 250 miles. I didn't use any rtv with these as drew recommends, other than the corners.

 

So, she's done and running sweet. Thanks to all the great info provided here in this thread. It certainly has helped. With that said, I decided to follow the Edelbrock instructions for their Airgap install combined with several of the details that drew provided.

1. Cleaned the snot out of the mating surfaces, per Drew then used Gasgacinch per Edelbrock
2. Used copper RTV in lieu of the metal//rubber x gaskets, per Edelbrock
3. Utilized spent headless bolts for alignment per Drew
4. Applied RTV at coolant ports per Edelbrock
5. Waited 24 hrs until first crank.
6. Changed engine oil as suspected fouled with gasoline causing noisy lifters.
7. Cranked right over and purrs like a kitten, lifter noise gone.

Out of curiosity due to the differences of opinion involving the cross gaskets, I did a visual comparison by dry fitting the manifold with and without the cross gaskets. There is a significant difference in how the manifold runners align with the cylinder head intake surface, the x gaskets creating a very loose dry fit, sitting high. My conclusion is that if using the rubber x gaskets, the bolts under torque will compress them, bringing the mating surfaces into a sealing contact.

What makes me uncomfortable with this arrangement is if the bolts loosen (or not tightened correctly), the seal could become compromised. There is only 12 #'s of torque applied, and the amount of gasket compression needed to create a seal leaves me dubious.

Laying down a solid 1/4" bead of RTV has compressed to about 1/8" and what I can observe a very healthy and solid seal along runners and x block.

Thanks again guys for helping.