Allow me to share a different method with you
I know is not used by the masses
never the less
I've used it since the late 60's and I've never had a leak such as you
are dealing with at this time
Shock of all Shocks
I DO use the end cork gaskets
I use 3M weather stripping adhesive to glue the cork gaskets to the block
After they are nice and dry, I screw a section of all thread on each corner
of the heads
That ensures the intake will be lowered straight and not allow the
gaskets to shift or be knocked out of place
When I cinch down the intake I wanna do it in about three steps
and I want each step to be done evenly so you follow the torque
sequence you find in the books which means the clamping force
is done very precisely
I do not use a torque wrench
but
I'm such an old fart
I have a pretty good feel for how tight things are
I start the first sequence and shoot for about 5 or 6 lbs
To get even tightness on all bolts you are gonna have to run all the
bolts about 3 or 4 times :Word:
Next I run em down to about 10 lbs or so using the same method
Now this last step is where you gotta use a bit of common sense
You read in the books about the amount of torque you should use
however
This is for an OEM application
If you got Aluminum heads which have softer material than OEM iron
heads ... then ... I back off that value a bit
I usually use a final value that I would say is in the range of 16-18 lbs
when running Aluminum heads
I can not stress two things that I believe to be a must do kinda thing
1 Run the bolts as many times needed until you get an even amount
of tightness on all bolts
2 After two heat cycles ...........
Run A L L the bolts again until they all have the same tightness
YOU WILL FIND SEVERAL LOOSE BOLTS AFTER THOSE HEAT CYCLES :Word:
Hey ... It has ALWAYS worked for me with no issues what so ever
Grady