no exhaust gasket will it leak

[fordman]

if i replace the passenger side exhaust manifold without a gasket will it leak? no planing off of the head or manifold. just remove one and botl the other one on. the drivers side seams ok without one right now. i am hoping i can do it without having to buy gaskets for it. will it leak in the long run? say a year from now? or 6 months from now.

[DuckRyder]

Impossible to say.

IF everything is flat, surfaces are in good condition and the bolts are properly tightened it will not leak... Thats a lot of "If" though...

[Ranchero50]

Put some permatx ultra rtv on and it'll hold up for a good long time.

[bb429power]

If you put RTV on it I would just worry about it burning up because of how hot that area gets.

[AlleyCat]

There is an RTV made for manifolds. I've used it in the past and it does work.

[Doug F]

I learned long ago that (at least in the 60s) Ford didn't use exhaust manifold gaskets, from the factory.

At least my info was from the 64 T-bird that I grew up with and my 67 Mustang.

[knightfire83]

I always use this in addition to exhaust gaskets on manifolds or headers. Works great on collectors too, it stays pliable for years on end and works great.... Absolutely no leaks, should work out great in your application.



About $5-$6 at any auto parts store.

[oldschoolrods]

is great stuff, use it on just about anything. i worked on a isuzu that speced that instead of gaskets for some stuff

[DuckRyder]

is great stuff, use it on just about anything. i worked on a isuzu that speced that instead of gaskets for some stuff

IHATE RTV and even I have some of that...

Here is my Isuzu tip of the day...

If your friend wants you to help put an engine in a 3.4l DOHC Trooper...however much he wants to pay you is not enough...

[FreakysFords]

DItto, I've even had to reuse old donuts on jobs that had to leave same day, and none in stock at local's. a nice little coating and off ya go.
Neighbor's .040 over, wild cammed 454 has nothing but that as header gaskets and has been fine for 2 yrs now. We're in the process of building his second 454 atm since his truck with current engine got beat by a ratty looking old 69 F100 with a "stock" 4v 390.

[oldschoolrods]

is great stuff, use it on just about anything. i worked on a isuzu that speced that instead of gaskets for some stuff

IHATE RTV and even I have some of that...

Here is my Isuzu tip of the day...

If your friend wants you to help put an engine in a 3.4l DOHC Trooper...however much he wants to pay you is not enough...

hahaha, the Isuzu i worked on was an industrial diesel engine - very simple. I should point out the most common place i use it is for cooling system stuff, and have not tried it on exhaust.

pat

[sideoilerfe]

IF everything is flat, surfaces are in good condition and the bolts are properly tightened it will not leak... Thats a lot of "If" though...

Absolutely. I did my 390 in 1997 and had the manifolds machined to match the head and used no gaskets. In 1999, the drivers side manifold cracked all the way in half. I simply got another manifold, had it machined and bolted it on without a gasket. It still doesn't leak.

Fordman, I would say if the other side is leak free you'll probably be OK but a lot of IF's! I would machine the manifold then give it a shot.

[Dirty Offio]

I know a chebbie guy that never uses exhaust manifold gaskets..never seems to have any leaks either.

On the Permatex Ultra Copper, the same guy resused the HEAD GASKETS! Just gave them a thin coat of that stuff, and slapped them on. Damnedest thing I ever saw. That motor ran strong for an entire season in the mud. Oh, before everyone thinks the guy is a total whack job, a friend of ours was stuck out in the middle of the swamp. The only truck that had a prayer of getting into him and getting him out was The Frog, and the engine had a cracked head (SBC). Chuck peeled the heads off and slapped on another set, but did not have the $$ for a set of gaskets. So he coppered them and went out to rescue our buddy. It only had to hold for a day. ran it for about 6 months.

[fordman]

doug the factory did use the metal type gasket that had the flange thing on it that kind of went over the sparkplugs. i think i'm goignt o go with nothing as a gasket. for the time being. i don't like the idea of rtv or that copper stuff. i don't know why it just doesn't seem like it would work. maybe it does i don't know.

[ximy]

I've run stock manifolds to heads without gaskets.. no warp.. no leak.