I went back through my old pics. This is from last uear when i orginally took the engine to him

What gaskets. Don't see the printo seal. I see cut to clear Valley pan tabs. Does the intake clear the tabs also? My manifolds hit the tabs on Valley pan. Had to grind them to miss intake also

I can see imprint from manifold on right side. Looks like it over laps tabs

Slso looks like leaking from water crossover's lots of crap right there. Left water port at bottom of pic looks funny too

Don't like those water ports and those tabs should not be under the manifold face anywhere. The have to clear everything. Dam don't like that that's water from the cross over. Has the manifold rotted around the water ports

Im not sure. That was from last year. From my recollection the manifold looked fine. I havnt pulled it off yet

is the engine in the boat, or did you pressure test it in the garage and not install it yet?

The valley pan is originally there to keep heat off the bottom of the manifold or to keep the oil from cooking at the bottom of exhaust. cross over. Single plane has no cross over plus there is open air under the intake runners. Bottom of intake doesn't contact anything but oil. Mine fits fine but I'm considering leaving it out. What do you ppl think?

The valley pan is originally there to keep heat off the bottom of the manifold or to keep the oil from cooking at the bottom of exhaust. cross over. Single plane has no cross over plus there is open air under the intake runners. Bottom of intake doesn't contact anything but oil. Mine fits fine but I'm considering leaving it out. What do you ppl think?

My money is on the heads not clamping properly due to head bolts being too long. This is something that is easy to miss even twice.
Old block, bolt holes not chased with a bottoming tap, sealant on bolt. It is easy to mistake the bolt bottoming out to normal torque.
I used studs on my 598 so that can't happen, The other engines I always used Good aftermarket bolts that have washers.
I always install the bolts dry without the washers to make sure they don't bottom out. That and I always chase the bolt holes.

I can see the imprint from the intake. IF he is still running the same one it is not hitting the valley pan tabs.