is a valley pan necessary?

[SJ]

I will be installing a new performer manifold and I read on other sites that the valley pan isn't necessary if you get the Mr. Gasket set of intake gaskets. Is this true and is there anything else I should be aware of?

[4DWUDS]

You are opening a can of worms here but it all ends up as your choice. Some say yes you should run one, some say no. The E-Brock manifold will need to have the heat shield from the old stock manifold installed and they supply the rivits to put it back on there new one. I have heard that the Mr. Gasket set is to thick and does not give a good fit(Vacumn leaks). My preferance is to run the pan and not worry about it down the road.

[derf]

I ended up having to use the valley pan. I tried the thicker "standard style" cardboard gaskets. But I couldn't get the bolts to engage the threads. I swapped out for a valley pan and it went in fine.

[SJ]

Is the heat shield and valley pan different things?

[Damage, Inc.]

Yes. The heatshield is riveted to the botom of the manifold whereas the 'valley pan' is the intake manifold gasket.

[porchpiggy]

Yes. The heat shield attatches to the bottom of the manifold, and the valley pan is integrel with the gasket.

[gwinn]

We opted to leave the valley pan out during my rebuild. Had no problems with Mr Gasket's leaking. Now I wish I would have reinstalled a valley pan. There is really no benefit to leaving it out, and if the AMC engineers were stupid enough to design the engine with an unneccessary part, why do I have so much confidence in my rig? Next time it is going back in! smile.gif

[Cliff]

Use the heat shield/PCV baffle that is installed on your stock manifold. Your Performer may have holes where the baffle can be bolted up. This is mandatory or your PCV will contsnatly clog, not to mention the hot oil on the manifold reducing the efficiency of the air/fuel mixture.

I don't use valley pans. I have the oil bypass line, I attempted to cut the valley pan to fit, and it leaked. The last time I used one intact it leaked too. I just use Mr. Gaskets with no trouble ever. I also use a thick bead of grey silicone instead of the rubber end pieces. This is just a matter of opinion.

[GasWag]

So you have to modify the valley pan if your going from a stock to a 4v manifold??

[gwinn]

I have the oil bypass line, I attempted to cut the valley pan to fit, and it leaked. Good point! I knew there had to be a good reason why we left it out. smile.gif That was it!

[SJ]

So what you are saying is that the 2bbl manifold's valley pan will not directly hook up to the performer manifold?

So then I need to install the heat shield and mr. gasket set and I am set?

[Stuka]

You have to get a new valley pan from felpro. You cannot reuse the old one. They are one time use only.

[Cliff]

The heat shield from a stock manifold should work on the Performer. Although I have not used a Performer, I have used Torkers, and the Torker is drilled for the stock baffle. I figure the Performer would be too.

[River Beast]

The heat shield will transfer to the E-Brock intake.....

The valley pan is a debate that depends on what you are running... the oiling mod is a big one... depending on the type of mod you do... some guys on the AMC Forum have a valley pan unmodfied with the oiling mod under it ( 3/8" line custom bent) and other mode the valley pan and others just go with 800G Mr Gaskets

[Lindel]

Personally, I prefer the Mr. Gasket set (800G), and I detest the valley pan gasket! I've never been a fan of valley pans, ever. They are prone to leaking, both on top, and underneath the manifold, and if it leaks from underneath, it's almost impossible to find, and you WILL burn oil like it's going out of style.

The Mr. Gasket set also blocks off the exhaust crossover, and this will give a very small performance boost, due to a cooler intake (also means a lot less in the burned oil department, good for less sludge in the lifter valley!).

Basically, it's what you prefer, and I prefer the convenience and lower price of the Mr. Gasket set.

[4DWUDS]

Yes the valley pan and the heat shield are seperate pieces. The valley pan acts as a manifold gasket. The heat shield attaches to the bottom of the new manifold with the rivits supplyed with the manifold. Simply remove the shield from the old stock manifold and install it on the new one.

[River Beast]

Here are good threads on the AMC Forum:

Intake gaskets:
http://www.amcforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Engine;action=display;num=1050026773

Oiling Mods:
http://www.amcforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Engine;action=display;num=1050089143

[78 blu ox]

I just did this swap a couple weekends ago. Couldn't get the bolts in with the Mr. Gasket set. Went down and got the felpro set and had no problem. In the Edelbrock installations instruction they recomend the felpro or oem type due to limited clearence. Although Jegs recomended Mr. Gasket.

[wagoneer1019]

I had an argentine mecanic work on my dads 360 and he just put on the intake with a whole lot of rtv black and it worked better than the other gasket. 2 weeks later the engine went out I'm not shure if it was bad luck or a bad mechanic.