There are many thoughts on the turkey basket. I intend on installing mine. The directions are horrible aren't they?!?!?!
My builder told me to use a feeler gage between the manifold and the head to assure I did not have any space. Otherwise, oil may by sucked by one or more of the intakes and burned out the tail.
From:
http://www.mustangsandmore.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/005990.html
Daniel Jones
Gearhead
posted 01-31-2002 03:38 PM
If you're using the turkey pan, apply a thin layer
of the black Permatex around the ports of the pan. Allow the Permatex to
get tacky before installing. Using long guide on the 4 center (the
vertical ones) will help guide the manifold into place.
Also from this post:
The pan protects the oil from splashing on the hot exhaust crossover port.
Use it unless you've blocked off the port or have an intake without a
crossover passage (Holley Strip Dominator, for one).
The rubber intake manifold gasket end seals can be troublesome, especially if the heads and/or intake have been milled. Many builders toss the rubber seals and just lay down a bead of RTV but I don't like that as I've seen too many engines with RTV bits clogging up pushrod holes and oil pick ups. I prefer to buy or make my own end seals from cork. I peen the block rails with a punch so the gasket won't squeeze out while it's being torqued down.
BTW, this also works well on valve cover gaskets. Use Permatex 300 (the
black stuf I thinkit's called Permatex Aviaton Form-a-Gasket now) or a
contact cement to hold the gaskets in place. Don't use RTV except in the
corners of the end rails and even there I prefer using the red/brown
(hardeneing) Permatex.