1984 3.8L - Trouble finding correct EGR gasket

I replaced the valve cover gaskets on an 84 3.8L and I had to remove the EGR valve. I figured no problem I'll just get a new gasket. I went to Napa and was asked if the car was Canadian or US emissions. No clue on that question so I just said US, and I also picked up a PCV valve since it's cheap. I get home and see the PCV valve was a single nipple and the one on the car is dual nipple and the EGR gasket was about 3/4" too short to fit over the bolts and the corners were straight instead of rounded like the old one and the bolt holes were both round and on the original gasket one hole is oval. I went back to Napa to return both and a different guy tells me the gasket and PCV part numbers I was sold earlier don't even come up for that model car and the ones I need were special order and would take about 2+ weeks to get and I'd have to pay freight and he said "you might want to just buy it on Amazon". I said just refund my money and I came home to order the gasket only to find every EGR gasket for an 84 3.8L on Amazon is the wrong one and nearly every one on ebay are wrong.

I'm kinda wondering what's going on especially since the EGR was mounted with two different sized flanged nuts that look factory and the same, just different sizes. I've had this car since 1990 and I don't think I've ever changed the EGR. On the EGR there's a label that shows E7PE-9H473-J4A. Attached is a picture I found on ebay of the same EGR, and one hole is different. My niece is now the owner of the car and drives it daily I don't really want to mess around waiting 2+ weeks for the wrong gasket from Napa. I did find a gasket on ebay but it's going to take over a week to get here and I'm gambling it's the right one from the picture. Does anyone know a part number or another vehicle I can look for with this odd gasket?

90sickfox said:

That looks a lot like a regular 87 plus 5.0 EGR. Hard to tell for sure but may work. If it won't all the parts stores sell a roll of gasket material. You could turn the egr valve into a stamp to get the shape correct. Coat it with ink from a pen tube. Usually the gasket material is about 10 bucks.

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Good idea, thanks. It is a weird gasket material, looks like thin metal but it's not. Must be because of heat or something.

90sickfox said:

That looks a lot like a regular 87 plus 5.0 EGR.

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Well I searched ebay for 1987 GT EGR gasket and another variety of gaskets came up, some look like the one I need with a different part number. I ordered the one that would get here quickest...July 6-9th. It was $85 if I wanted 2 day air, screw that. So I've got 2 ordered now, hopefully one comes early and actually fits. It's getting a little difficult to find parts for an old 3.8L. My niece is a fox body addict now and apparently I'm the designated mechanic with free labor.

90sickfox said:

I had a 1984 3.8 mustang about 10 years ago. I loved that car.

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Yeah I got it as a graduation gift from my mom with 60k miles originally. I was going to sell it when my niece was about 12 and she said she wanted it, so I kept it. So glad I didn't sell it with the values going so high now. The 3.8 is perfect for her, has good acceleration and gets about 25 mpg. Just about every week she gets an offer from someone to buy it -- she works at a car dealership so she's getting a little cocky from all the attention. I did some body work and had it painted at Maaco about 18 years ago, and by some miracle they did a great job. After I had it painted it's been in a garage or carport most of the time. Only problem was I didn't drive it much in the last 12 years so it needed a lot of things....tires, master cylinder, headlight switch, dash lights, starter solenoid, battery, speakers, horn, door/window seals, the list goes on and on. It's pretty close now, the one major issue was leaking valve cover gaskets. Still need to fix the horn, and it needs new shocks.