PI Intake mod info

mijo_latino

Active Member
Apr 16, 2004
179
1
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Canton, Michigan
I thought this might be useful to clear up some of the fuzziness surrounding the PI vs non-pi gaskets when doing the PI intake mod.

non-pi---->http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=495410

As you can see, you really have to gob up all along the sides of the gaskets to get a seal. The good thing going this route, is that if you do get a leak, it will only be an intake leak. Meaning your car will throw a code(both banks lean). The bad is that its risker that you won't get a seal(didn't wait the 24 hour curing time, or missed a spot) and have to tear everything apart and start over. I really don't think that you can go this route with forced induction as the seal would give.

Also, My seal with this method lasted almost exaclty 2 years. It finally gave way and now im here.

helpfulpic.webp



PI----/\----

With the PI gaskets, all areas seal up fine except 2 spots, one on each side of the manifold.. That is the coolent passage in the bottom two pics.
The good is that you only have to seal about an inch of the gasket, and you will not have any intake leak problems. The bad is that if the seal fails, you will leak coolent onto the block and will have to fix it right away. You will definetly notice this as you will get coolent odor and steam like you blew a hose. I think this method would easily hold up to forced induction as there is a solid seal on the intake side of things.

This time round I went with the PI gaskets as I see less likely to fail. I want to add that some people see that if the coolent seal fails, it will some how go into the intake port next to it. I hope this pic clarifies that there is a full seal around that port(your not trying to seal with RTV) and extremely unlikely that will happen because of this route.

Hopefully you got a little better understanding on why there is a choice on which gaskets to go with. Either will work, you make the call.

:nice:



p.s. if any info is wrong or misleading, go ahead and correct me as I'm dead inside:D
 

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Well, it's been a few years since my PI intake install and had gone, as you did initially, with the NPI gasket for fear of the coolant leak for the most part. No issues for me so far, but appreciate you sharing the info. If I have to take the intake off for any reason, I will be putting the PI gaskets back on. Good job.