Engine 351W coolant drip

Hi,
That’s unfortunate .
Shop assemble the entire top end? If so, this should be their problem, not yours.
If not, skip loctite, the bolt isn’t going to back out under tension. I’d pull that bolt & verify it’s not bottoming out & causing torque reading errors. If that’s the case, it’s unlikely the only one. Chase the threads with a bottoming rap, or run a shorter bolt.
I Install a lot of TF top ends.
Brand new, I disassemble any new heads & check everything. Setting an aluminum intake or head down on a hard surface may cause a raised area on either end of a head or intake that prevents full seal surface contact once assembled.
The head may shift slightly due to a loose dowel. I set down the intake on the heads when heads are hand tight & look for gaps, intake bolts hand tight when I torque them.
If you over-torque the intake you can peel a head once it starts cycling hot & cold, or bend the intake flange if there’s a raised area. If it’s not the Bolt bottoming out, the only right thing to do is tear down & find the error.
No, it’s not difficult at all. Pull the battery terminals & bleed the fuel rail with the shraeder valve, drain off a few quarts of coolant, after that, it’s nuts, bolts, connectors. Take pic’s as you go, if you forget something you can later reference it.
You don’t want to start a fresh motor with a handicap, things like this don’t tend to improve over time.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
-John