Exhaust Manifold Gasket or Heat Shield

[Finster]

Happy New Year. I currently have an exhaust leak on my passenger side Exhaust Manifold. I was looking to replace the gasket to seal it up as I can see the space between my 352 and teh manifold itself.
Here are my questions:
1. Should I use the aftermarket gaskets that are sold for the 352 engine or use the heat shield that is reproduced or use BOTH?

2. Should I just replace the manifold while I have it off? Anotherwords is it one of those things that is better to replace while its off then have to re-do it some time later?

3. WHile the manifold is off is there anything else I should do?

Thanks for your time.

[Ford Only]

I would get the manifold surfaced to make sure it fits good, they like to warp over time.
Ford didn't use a gasket from the factory but I think its a good idea to use one with or without the heat shield.
If you were to have the engine out of the car where you could check the mating surface of both the heads and manifolds, then you would be safe to use just a heat shield and no gasket.

[skylinerman58]

Mr. Finster: Not an expert but I've ruined an exhaust manifold by thinking I could bolt on the tighter the better...WRONG... 35 foot pound's is what it should be otherwise breaking & trying to braze is not a good place to be...And as Mr. Ford advised milling the surface or surface's is the best way to go...Good Luck Gregg!

[Lars-57]

Hello Finster

Here are mine after I removed it, it was in pieces.

[Lars-57]

Here is what I did to resolve the problem,

[Lars-57]

Here is the manifold Brazing and surfaced,

[Lars-57]

Mounted, worked all summer 2013.


Lars

[SSsssteamer]

I am one that would leave the exhaust manifold gasket out. The reason why is that the cylinder head is water cooled but the exhaust manifold is not, it is heated by fire. If you use a gasket, it insulates the two from each other. If you don't use a gasket, then the exhaust manifold conducts most of its heat to the water cooled head. If they can both be at the same temperatures, they will both expand at the same rate and not want to crack. If they are insulated form each other, they will become extremely different temperatures and they have different measurements due to the different temperatures and will want to crack. Do like Ford did and leave those insulating gaskets out.

[Lars-57]

I think you right, old Henry was not dumb. With correct fittings between cylinder head and exhaust manifolds it shouldn’t been any problems. But if you try to repair old manifolds I think it’s better with gaskets, done it before and worked fine for me.