China rail leaks

permatex ultra black just did mine and use it on my drag cars with sbc for years.

...You must Clean ALL Contact Surfaces with ACETONE!!

I also use the Ultra Black, on BOTH contact Sides, then as You Did, Let it Just START to 'Tack' then Drop the Manifold. This causes the 'Extra' Silicone To SQUEEZ Into, and Pack, ALL of the Voids, And the (4 Corners)!! Put all 3/8" bolts finger loose. Pull the 4 Studs put in the 5/16 Bolts ,Start Tightening from the Center Out...in 3 Phases, Criss-Crossing. Last Phase Torque to Specs. 5/16' Bolts are less that 3/8' Bolts. A Note! Don't forget the Throttle Cable Bracket goes under the Front/Left Corner, Bolt!

Smooth the Exposed bead with Spit on Your Finger. The Four Stud Alignment was My Invention! I've Never had a Leak, since using Acetone to Clean off Oil!

I Doubt taking out the Bolts Would cause a Leak, Provided You Loosened them One-At-A-Time!! I think You may have had degreaser or slight Oil, on the surfaces. Clean with Alcohol, Maybe.

Acetone Always!

You don't need anti-seize. If you're trying to Seal Oil from the Bolt Holes, use Teflon Tape, or 'Liquid' Permatex, looks like Brown Tar, goes on with the Brush in the Cap. Use Sparingly, You don't want any of this stuff getting into the Oil!

Good Luck With It!

See You on the 'Highway of Broken Dreams'

@adam posted:

permatex ultra black just did mine and use it on my drag cars with sbc for years.

Yep, this is exactly what I used. A nice continuous thick bead that I let lightly skin over.

@marlinjack posted:

...You must Clean ALL Contact Surfaces with ACETONE!!

I also use the Ultra Black, on BOTH contact Sides, then as You Did, Let it Just START to 'Tack' then Drop the Manifold. This causes the 'Extra' Silicone To SQUEEZ Into, and Pack, ALL of the Voids, And the (4 Corners)!! Put all 3/8" bolts finger loose. Pull the 4 Studs put in the 5/16 Bolts ,Start Tightening from the Center Out...in 3 Phases, Criss-Crossing. Last Phase Torque to Specs. 5/16' Bolts are less that 3/8' Bolts. A Note! Don't forget the Throttle Cable Bracket goes under the Front/Left Corner, Bolt!

Smooth the Exposed bead with Spit on Your Finger. The Four Stud Alignment was My Invention! I've Never had a Leak, since using Acetone to Clean off Oil!

I Doubt taking out the Bolts Would cause a Leak, Provided You Loosened them One-At-A-Time!! I think You may have had degreaser or slight Oil, on the surfaces. Clean with Alcohol, Maybe.

Acetone Always!

You don't need anti-seize. If you're trying to Seal Oil from the Bolt Holes, use Teflon Tape, or 'Liquid' Permatex, looks like Brown Tar, goes on with the Brush in the Cap. Use Sparingly, You don't want any of this stuff getting into the Oil!

Good Luck With It!

See You on the 'Highway of Broken Dreams'

Great input Marlon thank you. And yes, I did read the stud guides from you…great idea!

That said I did not use acetone, but I did use lacquer thinner, which I had read online was good to clean the surfaces. I was careful to clean both surfaces really well. I will switch to acetone next time if you think it makes a difference.

We also removed all of the bolts and then very quickly redid the torque process bolt by bolt with anti-seize on them. I did this because stainless bolts were going into an aluminum surface.

Next time I will control what I can control, ensuring that the surfaces are fully cleaned with acetone. Then, make sure that the bolts do not have to come out immediately after having been set, and only put them in one time!

Another option is to use the cork gaskets with sealant on both sides of it.  For me it is easier than a thick bead of Ultra Black Permatex.  Also, I now use Right Stuff as a sealant instead.  The reason is that Right Stuff dries much faster and comes off much easier later if needed.  It costs more.

My process is to put a thin layer of Right Stuff onto a clean china wall, then put the cork onto that and then set the manifold onto the engine to press the the cork down into sealant.  I use the cutoff guide bolts as well for this (thank you Marlin).  After an hour or so, I pull the manifold and put another layer of Right Stuff on top of the cork and do the final install of the manifold.

I use the tube of Right Stuff, not the pressurized gizmo.

I have done this many times on Panteras and do not have leaks.

...No offense intended, I have a Pile of Cork End Gaskets. I never use them because they Shrink and come apart, in time. You can have them for free.

I cannot say this Enough! That 'Tiny Bead' of Ultra Black, I put on 'BOTH Contact Sides', Thourally! That way NO Void is Missed!

MJ

OK I did not apply it on both contact sides. I only put it on the engine into the corners of the headers! Good call, I will make sure to put it on the manifold as well!

I can see in your first photo that the intake gaskets are tattered.  It is probably best to replace them since the manifold is off.

In the valley a good 3/8 bead a little smaller in the corner and then a small bead going up the head. I also do a small bead around the ports. Everyone has there own way so you take what we are all giving you and you should be fine.

Plus one on the bead around the ports on the intake gasket.  The engine in my photo above (with the oil pressure gauge) burns a lot of oil without it.  It does not do it at first and later on the smoke starts.  At this point in time I use gloved hands to completely smear the intake gaskets with a thin coating of sealant on both sides prior to final installation of the intake manifold.

I don't think there is perfect alignment with my Edelbrock Torker intake manifold and Ford D0AE closed chamber heads.  Perhaps other setups have better alignment with the intake and heads, and can run dry intakes gaskets.

I have another Pantera with a Hall Pantera Weber manifold and Ford closed chamber heads, and I am near final assembly of the engine.  Maybe it will seal with dry intake gaskets.  I am tempted to try it but putting Right Stuff on the gaskets is a small extra step and will probably go that route.

Yes Steve good eye, that was before I scraped off the gaskets. I used new gaskets for sure, and will order new ones again.

One other thing I would add as a best practice in case others come back to this post in the future. Dry fitting the intake manifold and marking along the manifold where it meets the gaskets on the headers makes sense. I did not do this, and when I ran my continuous bead of sealant on both China rails, I ended up with most of my sealant outside of the manifold in the corners, because I was assuming the manifold would hide the majority of the gasket. One of my corners has a wet gasket because of this.

...My Apologies! I did Not realize You were working with Aluminum Heads. And I agree, Stainless Bolts into Aluminum Heads, Would require Anti-Seize, Very Smart Advise!