When I purchased my Pantera it came with numerous extra parts and pieces. One is a new Edelbrock Performer 4V and a new Victor #15816 valley pan. I have read numerous threads regarding the use of the valley pan (aka turkey pan) with the 351 Cleveland and have been going back and forth on using the turkey pan or not.
After much deliberation I decided to use the turkey pan. The Edelbrock Performer installation sheet recommended using Fel-Pro # 1228 gaskets, which I picked up at a local auto store.
All was looking good for installation this weekend when I went to match everything up. Interestingly, my new Fel-Pro # 1228 intake gaskets have no center hole in them for the heat riser but my victor turkey pan does.
Now I am a little lost. I have run across some other forums and articles that recommend blocking off the heat risers during installation.
Should I block the heat riser with some thin metal? One article recommended gluing .015 or so stainless shim stock to the gasket just before installing the intake. Do I even need to glue .015 stainless to the gasket if the gasket actually does not have a hole in it? Or will the heat eat through the gasket if there is not metal backing it?
I guess the other option would be to cut a hole in the gasket to allow the heat riser port to be open.
Once again any advice is much appreciated.
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