Voice123

The intake gasket set I purchased has a rubber gasket for the front and back of intake. Should I use this or should I use RTV only instead?

The kit also had an 1" o-ring gasket, where would that go?

BarryK

use RTV, not the rubber gaskets for the block end rails.
I like the Permatex Ultra-Copper RTV myself.
Put the RTv on each rail down as one continuous bead and I also extend it up to go around the end water jackets on the heads plus go a little heavier on the bead at the very corners of the rails where they meet the heads as these are common leak points.
I wait about 5-10 minutes after putting down the RTV to allow it to set up a bit.

Also, I use a cut off broom handle stuck in the distributor hole and slide the intake down the broomhandle so it's perfectly aligned when it meets the block so that it doesn't have to be moved or adjusted and mess up the RTV bead.

The circular gasket in the set is the distributor gasket for when you install the distributor

Here is a pic of when I did the intake on my '78 although it's the same for the older motors as well.

Kensmith

You can use the rubber end gaskets but they are a pain to keep lined up and you still have to use RTV at the ends or they will leak. I agree the best and easiest way is to use only RTV at the ends but make sure it is a very thick bead. If your intake is going to leak, it will be at the rear end first, front end second.

Voice123

Thanks guys.....I will use a continues bead of RTV.

plaidside

I just put an intake on my 61.
I use a small bead of orange RTV so it doesn't show too much.

BarryK

use a nice bead but don't get too carried away either. If the bead is too large, excess RTV will seep inside the lifter valley and you don't want pieces of RTV floating around in there which can find their way into and plug up the oil galleries.
JohnZ has a really nice article about intake swaps and on installations recommends a RTV bead size of 1/4" - 5/16"

bmcnitt

Where is JohnZ's article?

BarryK

http://lbfun.com/Corvette/Tech/vettetech.html

click on the Title header "Fuel & Intake"

It's the first article in that section and called:

Intake Swap
by: John Hinckley

Joel 67

We would all be doing ourselves a favor to bookmark Barry's site. It is one of my first stops when I am looking for info on something (it is so extensive it covers just about anything).

Thanks Barry!

Frankie the Fink

Last month, I used BarryK's picture above and John's article to swap my intake gasket for a fuel-injected version to block off the heat riser passages and it went flawlessly. LOTS of good tips including using a broomstick or dowel in the distributor hole to assist the initial line up.