Intake gasket misalignment need advice

[Cudakiller70]

Concerned about the gasket sealing in the center of the two ports, you can see how it only covers about 1/2 of it, and it's not that big of a surface! And the other 1/2 of the gasket is in the air stream not leaving much for a seal.
It looks like the bright blue seal part embedded in gasket may not even be over the head and fully supported.
I can't trim/slot the holes much because of the water jacket at the very front, maybe I could get a 1/32" more to slide to the right.
340 eng, Feel pro gasket 1213 gasket aligns with RPM air gap Perfectly and passenger side head perfectly.
Edelbrocks directions say to use gasgacinch on both head and back side of gasket, let dry then set in place.
Any suggestions? Different gaskets? Use RTV?

[HP_Cuda]

Or you could port the intake!!! 

Just a thought but yeah with water jackets it's not fun.

[Chryco Psycho]

Ever wonder why I port every set of heads before installing them , it called core shift , this is a common / allowable casting error  , even Alum heads can be this bad & worse !
 I would trim the gasket as much as you can the seal between intake ports is not highly critical anyway , of course I would port match everything

[Cudakiller70]

Or you could port the intake!!! 

Just a thought but yeah with water jackets it's not fun.

Thanks, yeah this is a bummer.
 

[Cudakiller70]

Ever wonder why I port every set of heads before installing them , it called core shift , this is a common / allowable casting error  , even Alum heads can be this bad & worse !
 I would trim the gasket as much as you can the seal between intake ports is not highly critical anyway , of course I would port match everything

What if I cut a slice out of the gasket somewhere between the front water port and intake ports? Then I can shift the gasket to the right side and get a perfect alignment on the intake port. Keeping the front water port untouched and where it needs to be.
Also I can seal the cutout portion of the head gasket with black or grey RTV. I have Permtex right stuff, but am told not to use where it's exposed to fuel?

[YellowThumper]

What if I cut a slice out of the gasket somewhere between the front water port and intake ports? Then I can shift the gasket to the right side and get a perfect alignment on the intake port. Keeping the front water port untouched and where it needs to be.
Also I can seal the cutout portion of the head gasket with black or grey RTV. I have Permtex right stuff, but am told not to use where it's exposed to fuel?

Visually in my mind that sounds like a very good way to go.
If your ports are that far off I would definitely confirm that it will seal on the intake side. Fix for the head side could end up having same but opposite effect on intake.
If you do end up "adjusting" gasket I suggest making a step in it to keep it aligned up and down. Similar to a dovetail but without the taper.
FYI my heads were symmetrical but my airgap was off similarly. Pushed gasket to side best I could. Bolted it down and prayed...
Working good. When I eventually go to my standby motor I will have manifold welded up.

Good luck.
Mike

[Cudakiller70]

Visually in my mind that sounds like a very good way to go.
If your ports are that far off I would definitely confirm that it will seal on the intake side. Fix for the head side could end up having same but opposite effect on intake.
If you do end up "adjusting" gasket I suggest making a step in it to keep it aligned up and down. Similar to a dovetail but without the taper.
FYI my heads were symmetrical but my airgap was off similarly. Pushed gasket to side best I could. Bolted it down and prayed...
Working good. When I eventually go to my standby motor I will have manifold welded up.

Good luck.
Mike

Thanks, yup I'll check the intake manifold alignment if I trim the gasket. What air cleaner are you using on your 360 with air gap?

[YellowThumper]

I replied under your thread in the body shop section

[Mopar Mitch]

CudaKiller -- Core shift is common as previously said.   You can tack the gasket with gaskasinch or similar... just enough to hold/align to the heads.   Avoid excessive RTV ... should only be used as a filer-of-gap such as at the 4-intersecting corners (just a small dab).

I was a past Fel-Pro aftermarket engineer... there should have been instructions to read in the kit (I wrote them).

[Cudakiller70]

CudaKiller -- Core shift is common as previously said.   You can tack the gasket with gaskasinch or similar... just enough to hold/align to the heads.   Avoid excessive RTV ... should only be used as a filer-of-gap such as at the 4-intersecting corners (just a small dab).

I was a past Fel-Pro aftermarket engineer... there should have been instructions to read in the kit (I wrote them).

Thanks Mopar Mitch for your help.
I slotted the intake gasket bolt holes and slide it over just enough to give the embedded seal support. Checked the intake manifold ports to be sure this would work and it did. Then used gasgacinch on the gasket back and on the head around the intakes only and a thin schmear of permatex right stuff around water ports this held the gasket in place. Also did dabs at corners and along front and back of intake, not using the cork gaskets as Edelbrock recommends. I'm happy with it and think I got it right, we'll find out later, waiting for TTI part before I can fire it up. Thanks again! 

[Cudakiller70]

Thanks everyone for your help!