This is the second time I've pulled the intake off to find oil coated in the runners, puddled in some while the intake plenum is dry.
I have a catch can to keep any oil from the PCV from getting in and the pass side breather tube is capped. By the looks of the gasket and due to the fact its pops rigth off on removal it appears that the gasket isn't sealing good. Not sure if the heads had been milled or not, they are LE2 heads so there's not much sealing surface around the ports.

Should I smear some of the dredded yellow stuff around it on both sides, or smear any Ultra-black on both sides around the runners to help them seal or any better ideas? I used Fel-pro gaskets both times before dry.

 

What gaskets are you using? And are you sure it's not coming in the rocker studs?

 

Fel-pro 95580. I just had removed and sealed up the driver side studs real good last weekend when I pulled off the guide plates to machine them down some, but thats not to say there wasn't still residual oil in there, so I guess it is a possibility, they didn't seem to have but a tiny bit of thread locker on them, and it didn't seem to be on all of them either.

But the gasket when removed just doesn't look like it had much pressure or indentation on it on the bottom of each runner.

 

If there's no indentation on the bottom of the gasket chances are the intake isn't lining up with your heads.

 

That's what I'm thinking, there's definitely an impression on the top, but its gets lighter as you go down the sides of the runner. Don't know if the heads had been milled or not, looks like they still match up to the front and rear ends just right.....so I'm wondering if a little sealant of some sort would be ok to lightly smeer on to assist in sealing them.

Or is there a thicker gasket to use?

 

I've always run the fel-pro 1284 gaskets, but if the intake won't line up there really isn't anything you can do. The gm gaskets are the tickest IIRC, and you can spray them with copper RTV and hope they seal.

 

I use Gaskacinch around the intake ports. It will seal if the intake & heads don't quite line-up. This is after years of old school SBC'c & BBC's. Silicone does not work as the gas seems to eat it causing intake leaks.

 

Must be similar to this 3M Yellow sealant I have, takes a jack hammer to get it off, but since the port walls are so thin I may try it, it comes off with a brand new razor blade only and it hardens and gas doesn't affect it.

The 95580 was stamped on these and thats what the receipt said, I don't still have the box it came in...that may be the problem, I search for LT1 intake gasket and it matched on the 1294 from Summit, can't locate the 95580 part# anywhere. I read in another post that the GM ones were the thickest...if the dealer has them in the morn I may try those..if not, then see if the local store has the 1294's and if they look no different than what I pulled off then I may put a very tiny amount of the 3M yellow around it.

Also got a new set of guide plates to that were professionally machined out in the "U" so I'll seal the studs up real good with a dab of Ultra-Black on each side of the plate, that way if oil can't get to the threads it can't get in there, guess I can coat the threads too with the UB for extra insurance.

 

That's what we use on the race cars - 3M Weatherstrip Adhesive, a real PITA to remove. Combined with SCE's intake gaskets they never leak.

Sounds like a mis-alignment issue.

 

Yes indeed it is! I remember putting it on some valve covers once when I didn't know better..the next time the cover came off it took several hours to get it off the covers... it not bad to get off of flat machined surfaces with a new sharp razor blade, but a curved sheet metal surface was insane.

 

wire wheel on a b ench gridrr and a roloc disc on an angle die grinder takes it off, no problem(just messy)

 

Use a thicker gasket and check to see if the oil is coming in through the hose from the pass side valve cover.
When using the thick gasket pay attention to the end sealing of the intake.

 

Just for the record, I picked up some GM gaskets yesterday and they are the exact thickness as the Fel-pros I had, 0.09" but they are a little stiffer/hard. I thought I had read somewhere that the Felpros were 0.06 but the ones I had measured the same as GM.

Nope, as mentioned up top, there is no way for oil to get in the plenum as the hose is capped and a breather is in the pass side cover and the PCV has a catch can and the plenum is dry, only the runners are wet, so it was either the gasket leaking, or the rocker studs.
I just replaced the guide plates and used a dab of Ultra-black on the guide plate surface top and bottom in order to seal the threads off from any oil and put sealant on the threads too so hopefully no more leaks.

Thanks all for the help, it's together drying now.

 

Its all back together, smeered the yeloow #m stuff around the ports real lightly. Once together I used a parascoping mirror and a flexible pen light and looked down each runner from the front of the plenum and it looks like all the runners have just a tad bit of the yellow stuff smashing out between them and the heads all the way around so it should definitely be sealed up now!
I'll fire it up tomorrw once its all cured good and hopefully the noisey valvetrain is gone too.