To each his own is exactly right on this one! I worked in dealerships for 10+ years up till 1990. I've worked on these cars on and off since then. I have NEVER put a gasket on an AMC six manifold or any other engine that did not originally come with one. Yes, I've done this to old warped manifolds. Sand em and clean them up, bolt'em on. If they are warped too bad have them resurfaced. In my way of thinking the gasket is just a weak link waiting to fail. Yes, I know we've done this dissagreement before and have both said our piece on it. Just my take on it. -- Mark Price markprice242ATadelphia.net Morgantown, WV ---- John Elle <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I think I missed something here on the exhaust manifold gasket. I assume > this is for the I-6. And I unnerstand the factory used a milling process > on the fresh cast iron exhaust manifold so it could be installed with > out a gasket. > However, when I go to the parts counter and ask for a top line gasket > set I get an intake and exhaust gasket stapled together. The cheap > gasket sets do not include the exhaust gasket. Logic says to me that if > I did not need the gasket, it would not be available. As I have worked > on a number of I-6 engines I have found that the exhaust manifold warps > like mad. Up to an including the point where the end manifold bolts are > broken right off of the engine and when removed the manifold will not go > over the the replaced end bolts with out woggling out the holes with a > rat tail file. > Also my 'speriance says that the intake/exhaust manifold bolts on an I-6 > engine will work themselves loose over time. It seems to me that > somewhere along the line some one with more experience than I have has > identified a problem and was in the position to identify a solution. Use > a gasket! And then went ahead and packaged the gasket set in such a way > that I got a gasket for the exhaust manifold. Unless of course I was too > cheap to buy the better set and went ahead with pig headed determination > to install the intake and exhaust with out the exhaust manifold gasket. > I HATE exhaust manifold leak noises. > To me it is a no brainer, buy the good intake/exhaust manifold gasket > set, woggle out the end holes on the exhaust manifold so it will fit > over the studs and tighten everything down tightly. That has worked for > me for more years than I care to count. But to each their own. > As far as AMC for daily drivers, I gottem. I also have a Saturn and a > Chrysler Town and Country. > Their ain't no comparison folks. As nice as my Spirit is for cross > country traveling either of the other two cars get better gasoline > mileage, the A/C works better, they travel quieter so I can hear the > radio. The seats are more comfortable, the cruise control works better > and many other basic options that are not available on my Spirit make > traveling that much more enjoyable. Yupper. I have a deep respect for > the versatility and pleasure my AMC cars have brought me and believe me > they are nice. But the newer technology is far better and more > enjoyable. I had planned on restoring my Hornet Wagon and keeping it, > but to be honest, my T&C is a far better vehicle so if I do keep the > wagon, it will be to register it with the movie companies and let it > bring me some income. My go fast street racer Javelin will always have a > home with me but the Spirits day's are numbered now, I can see it > coming. I put a lot of work in the car to keep it as a daily driver but > to be honest. The Saturn has it beat any way you look at it. > For what it is worth > John. > _______________________________________________ > AMC-List mailing list > AMC-List@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list > > or go to http://www.amc-list.com _______________________________________________ AMC-List mailing list AMC-List@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list or go to http://www.amc-list.com