I'm going to be replacing this gasket this weekend. Will be my first time doing so. I just need alittle advice? Sealer? Is there a certain order I should retighten the bolts? I would appreciate any input!
I don't know about torque specs, but you should probably torque from the center out in a cris cross pattern. Call Edelbrock and ask them the torque spec, or check their website.
I believe I have the same intake and have removed this several times over the past 15 years. I've never measured the torque but have tightened them as JMGlasgow suggested above and have never had any leaks or issues. I clean off the metal but have never used any sort of sealant on the gasket. I also haven't used sealant on the upper/lower gasket.
Here's a shot. The coating had started to flake off so I recently sanded/painted it along with the valve covers.
Thanks man, appreciate it. You say you have removed it many times? Was it leaking? Did your car act up? I'm having the bucking and intake popping problem. I'm replacing and diagnosing many things, but did notice that it's leaking
While its not really necessary, I spray the intake gasket with copper coat before putting it on. I agree with contacting Edelbrock for the TQ specs. They will probably be low enough that you convert to in/lbs and use an in/lbs tq wrench. Most of the run of the mill ft/lb wrenches are not very accurate at the low end like these intake bolts get. Over the years I've developed a feel for it and dont use a tq wrench on these upper bolts. But they will strip very easily since its aluminum, so whatever you do, be careful.
My Snap On tq wrench starts at 45 ft/lbs so its useless for these bolts. I have a Craftsman in/lbs tq wrench. Manual lists in ft/lbs so I convert the number to in/lbs by multiplying by 12, then use the in/lbs wrench.
BTW, popping out of the intake is many times caused by the spark plug firing when the intake valve is open. Can also cause popping in the exhaust. This can be caused by bad spark plugs, ignition wires, dist cap, etc....
High resistance in a plug combined with weak wires or carbon tracing in the cap will cause cylinders to fire out of order, hence popping out the intake.
Also, I had trouble with that very MSD cap I see in your pic. The older ones, including mine were made with brass posts and were good. I changed mine with a newer MSD cap, same part number but the posts were not brass but some other silver colored metal. I had the symptoms you describe. I put the old cap back on and the problem went away.
If your MSD cap has the silver colored posts like mine did, maybe that's your problem. It was for me.
Thanks man, appreciate it. You say you have removed it many times? Was it leaking? Did your car act up? I'm having the bucking and intake popping problem. I'm replacing and diagnosing many things, but did notice that it's leaking
Yes, I've removed it many times over the years but not due to any issues with the intake. Over the years I've had a little bit of oil residue leak from the bottom side of the top gasket but nothing significant. When I remove the top/side part there is a small amount of oil sitting inside my upper intake. I'm not sure what causes it, though. No bucking or popping. The only time I did have popping through the intake is when I had the distributor in the incorrect position. I pulled it up, realigned, dropped it back down, reset timing and no popping ever since.