I am ready to install the aluminum intake on my 79. Do I or do I not put the little metal water port closers in the gaskets ? They came with the gasket set. Should I use the rubber end gaskets or some RTV or other sealant instead ? I've read alot of different ways. So I'm looking for the best way.

 

The "closers" you refer to are for the heat crossover. If you're using a carb with an electric choke then install them. Some guys install them anyway even if they're using a hot air choke because the intake will stay a little cooler.

Rubber end gaskets ... most guys here will tell you to just use a thick bead of RTV. I don't think the problem is the gasket themselves but rather how difficult it is to not knock them out of place when you're installing the intake. Personally I use them, but I glue them in place with RTV first, let that set overnight, and then install the intake the following day. I haven't had one leak yet!

 

Forget those end gaskets..........I have built over 10 engines with Permatex Ultra Blue on the end of the intakes.....no leaks whatsoever!

 

Chevy stopped using end seals years ago.

 

Thanks guys for the input....I'll take your advise & put in the closers & go with the Ultra Blue...Thank again

 

If you don't use the solid end gaskets, make certain that the engine and intake gasket surfaces that get the Ultra are absolutely squeaky clean and wiped with solvent and dried. Then put a bead on the engine rails, set intake carefully in place and leave it as-is for a couple of hours before you install and torque down the bolts. That way there will be a good bond to the metal surfaces and some compression on the RTV.

 

Not to knock anyone's personal preferences here, but I personally have found Permatex hi-temp GRAY RTV to be a far better sealer (especially where oil is involved) than blue, red, black, clear, or any of the others. I discovered it from a grizzled old transmission rebuilder some years ago who informed me that it was "right next to all the other RTV" at his parts store of choice. In the aircraft business there is a universal sealer known as MIL-S-8802 that is a 2-part mixture for which there is no automotive equivalent; it's just the most incredible sealer known to man and has such good bonding properties as well that you could almost use it as glue if you had to...Permatex gray is as close to that stuff as I've seen that is commercially available.
As far as those end seals go, if your engine has had machine work done to it that would reduce the gap between the intake and block rails then you shouldn't use them because they'll be excessively pinched. The rubber seals aren't much good anyway, but if you have the cork seals it's best to glue them onto the block rails with 3M weatherstrip glue (also known as 'gorilla snot') and then put a dab of RTV at each corner and a thin bead of RTV across the top just before you drop the intake. The glue dries almost immediately and will not allow the gaskets to shift under pressure.
I have also used the big-gooey-blob-of-RTV method of sealing the end rails, it's quite popular but have personally found that the cork seals work really well if you have about a 1/8" gap at each end to begin with and it's not nearly as messy...just my $1.380