Why do you say that?

 

<p>I would guess its because your gasket looks melted.</p>

 

After following all the leads I had and coming up empty I have decided to attempt a repair. Thinking about the suggestions here and looking over the manifold here's my idea.... Fill the gasket grooves with a aluminum brazing rod such as Alumiweld, HTS-2000, etc, resurface the flange and use a sheet gasket such as the Felpro 13123. I plan to use a mapp gas torch and possibly my grill to keep the temp up while brazing. Going this route seems a little easier to do with my limited brazing skills and will also allow me to keep the port match between the heads and manifold. I am open to suggestions or tips on how to make the repair. From what I have read, you get one chance with these fluxless brazing rods as the material can't be welded with a tig afterwards if they repair doesn't hold.

Here are a few pics showing the damage a little clearer after removing the gaskets...













Duplicate post from other discussion on the subject... https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...nifold-539794/

 

I would be reluctant to braze it. Aluminum warps pretty easily, and it would be useless after that. I would first take it to a local welding shop that is familiar with welding aluminum. Get their suggestions before you do anything. If you are hell bent on brazing it, you need to have it very very clean. I would clean it as much as you can and clean more. Then hit it with a stainless steel wire brush to remove any corrosion on the surface. Before brazing, I would place it in an oven and get the whole thing hot to reduce warping. But first take it to an aluminum welder.

 

Dropped it off with my welder just a little while ago. He absolutely recommended tig'ing it rather than filling it with braze. I may have it back tomorrow to work on it over the weekend.

 

I'm sure it will be done before our wheels get here.

 

Might have been easier and no chance of distortion to fill with epoxy and resurface if going with the Fel-Pro gaskets. I use Fel-Pros on my setup.

 

I had though about that too. I was just concerned about the heat cycles possibly cracking the epoxy over time.

Glad to hear someone else is using the FelPro sheet gaskets on a similar application. Have you had any issues with them sealing on your setup?

 

So true! Everyday I check my email with anticipation that they have shipped. I was really hoping I would have them for an event on Oct 9th.

 

Seems to be a less critical location if the right epoxy is used. Had a 2 stroke boat motor rebuilt and they told me the machine shop used epoxy to repair one of the crank sealing ring areas(see pic). Wasn't so thrilled about that, but I would think that there would be a suitable material for a non-moving part like an intake manifold.

I think the gaskets are OK....now if only I could keep the intake bolts from loosening up!