Black 84 Z

The water pump to block gasket recently blew out on my camaro, so I spent this past Sunday working on it. Since the AC has not worked in years and I don't drive the car very often, I removed the compressor and hoses to clear up some room and shave some weight. I have not taken the condenser off yet, but will be doing that this weekend. Should I just cap off the line that connects to the back of it or does it even matter? I was able to get the gaskets replaced and the alt and power steering put back, but i had to get a few parts before replacing the coolant lines T-stat, etc. Since I have a Perf RPM intake (not Air Gap) just sitting on the shelf right now, I thought I might as well go ahead and finally put it on the car since it does not look too difficult. This will be my first time tearing into the engine AT ALL so I want to know what to expect. Couple of specific questions, should I used a gasket sealer on the intake gaskets or carb gaskets, if so what kind? How about a thread sealer on the intake bolts? I have read that the rubber gaskets for the ends of an intake are garbage and I should just use RTV to seal it, true or false? What color RTV if true? Sorry for the questions, I just want to get it all done in one shot if possible.
Thanks in advance.

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

You could just cap off the lines. That'll keep them clean if you ever plan on reselling or using them again. When I did mine I just pulled out all the lines and components, which made the bay a little cleaner.

You'll get mixed replies about the china wall gaskets, some people swear by the cork gaskets others like the Black RTV. I normally use Fel-Pro Intake gaskets on the runners and lay down a thick layer of Black RTV on the china walls. I also like to add a super thin bead of RTV around each intake port and water jacket passage on both sides of the gaskets. It'll make it seal up great and it holds the gaskets in place, but it can be a real mess if you want to remove the intake later, since you'll have to peel it all off and use a new intake gasket again. So you could skip the bead on the ports if you want.

Black RTV is made for use near oil, so that's the best to use IMO. Don't forget to get the edges of the intake gasket with some RTV else you can have oil wicking through the corners of the rear intake, running off the back of the heads onto the block, and dripping on headers... which is a mess. Don't be affraid to lay down a decent layer of RTV on the china walls because it takes quite a bit to fill in the gap depending on how well your intake mates up. I know my block and victor jr has probably a good 1/2" gap in rear.

As for threadsealer yes normal liquid thread sealer in the small tubes work well. Even though intake bolts do not see oil or coolant the thread sealer will help them from working loose from vibrations. Just make sure you get thread sealer and not a thread locker.

Intake bolts see little torque so you don't have to worry about replacing them, but don't get carried away it takes very little torque to hold the intake on we're talking inch-lbs not ft-lbs. Make sure you tighten in the proper pattern normally starting with inside most and working around to outside. That's suppose to keep the gasket from moving/squishing.

Don't forget you'll have to drain the radiator some to keep the coolant from making a mess and contaminating the oil. You could probably reuse the removed coolant if you're careful when draining or just top it off with fresh.

Oh and I should have added there will be some air bubbles in the system so you'll need to burp the air out of it.

Gumby

black RTV for the china wall and around the water ports, ThreeBond 1194 around the intake ports, very thin layer both sides of gasket.

Black 84 Z

Thanks for the quick responses guys!! Should I put anything on the carb gasket or just leave it as is? Also, I forgot to ask earlier, has anyone had a problem fitting a performer RPM, Holley DP, no spacer, and a drop base air cleaner with 2.5" element under a stock steel 1984 hood with no insulation. Reason I ask is originally I had the RPM put on with the stock QJet and an adapter, with the original air cleaner the hood would not close so i had to go with the shorter Performer which also didn't need the adapter. I don't want to go thru with the swap just to have to undo it all if it does not fit.
Thanks again guys.
DG

Black 84 Z

Bump

Gumby

All I use are two thin paper gaskets for the carb with a metal shim between them. [Mrgasket use to sell a carb gasket with a metal shim in the center as a heat shield.]

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

I don't put anything on carb gaskets. I use more expensive rubber gaskets so I don't normally even put a new one on if I remove the carb anyways. I run a 4 hole spacer so the intake/spacer gasket is Open type, and the carb/spacer is the 4-hole type.

I measured my victor jr with carb spacer and air filter vs my TPI before I did my motor swap and the 4" cowl to see if it would fit.
I measured from the intake runner flange near the head directly up to the height of the were the top of the air filter would be. I used a paint stirring stick or something like that to get a straight line. I recorded that measurement. I then measured from my current intake directly up until it reached even with the fenders. You'll have to take into account the hood will take up some room and you'll need room for the motor to move so it doesn't rub. That should get you a basic ball park figure.