Intake gasket question
 

Guys, I have a Merlin intake that ended up with some saltwater damage. I didn't know this until after I bought it. It looks like the intake gasket was just a little too big and didn't seal against the bronze water passages. I confirmed this while mocking up the intake on my AFR heads. The gasket that I was going to use, FelPro 1275, isn't going to work. The 1275's water port is really tall/deep and I can't see it working on any intake manifold with a bronze insert.

Mr. Gasket makes a blank gasket but I'd rather not have to cut out the entire thing. Any thoughts on a gasket set that will seal to the bronze passages while still fitting the AFR intake port?

mr. gasket 121 has a smaller water opening

If that 121 doesn’t work. Ball peen hammer with that blank gasket ?

How us old guys make gaskets for old schit that gaskets aren’t availsblr for. And some us do to line up intake ports with intakes and exhaust ports with manifolds/headers.

search gasket making on youtube. You’ll find some vids. Pretty easy to do.

Does it have to be a gasket? Could you just RTV it? Just askin!

Thanks guys. I'm going to try the 121 more out of convenience than anything.

It definitely needs a gasket. My intake suffered a failure because someone used the wrong gaskets with it. The aluminum was exposed to saltwater and ruined the bottom edge. Had the right gasket been used, the intake wouldn't have any issues. I'll get it right. Fortunately, the bronze is in great shape.

Doing some searches, I saw that Dean Gellner recommended sealing the gaskets at the water passages with 5200. A little extreme but no leaks!

Weld it up. Post a pic.
I used metal epoxy on one of my original dual plane intakes. The thermostat seat was gone. It has lasted 15yrs.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/J-B-WELD-St...-Fl-Oz/3389024

If I can clean it out well enough I might add some JB Weld to it.

Here are pics...


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c50ae2df8.jpeg

Bronze - 1, aluminum - 0

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7f534c8e0.jpeg

That’s not going to work.

If I have some time, it's headed out to be sandblasted along with some other parts.

This one came out nice...

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7c4fed6e0.jpeg

Once the other one comes back, I’m hoping to duplicate the effort. The intake in the pic does not have the bronze liner, but it’ll be closed cooled so no concerns there.

Maybe check with Cometic, they make intake gaskets.

I went ahead and ordered the Mr. Gasket 121 and it should be here Saturday. I'll have the intake back in a week so I'll mock it up then.

I don't have the other intake back yet, but it looks like the 121 fits the other one just fine. Lining up the gasket with the water passage, the bottom of the gasket surface is raised much higher. I may trim it some because the top is closed off some. Water will eat up the gasket and could lead to a failure so trimming it is best.

Should I use some 5200 to seal it??

Look at how different these two are:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...2d64379e5.jpeg

If that gasket is used with a aluminum intake, bronze lines or not, and exposed to salt, things can and will go bad quickly. The FelPro gaskets fit the water passage on Dart’s Pro 1 as the port is taller - Brodix seems to be like my AFR.

Anyway... just something to be aware of.

Cover it with some Right Stuff if you want to seal it.

Ditto on the right stuff. That stuff works great.

I was kinda kidding on the 5200. I sealed it with Right Stuff.