Some background ... Aluminum Holley Dominator Intake with Mr Gasket seals. I used the Permatex Gasket Maker for the ends rather than the rubber seals provided.. The Sealant doesn't seem to be curing.
Black RTV has been recommended by GM for years now. 'Pretty blue color' hanging out of the seams does brand you as an amateur, as 302GMC stated. I used to lay dead for engines coming into the shop with yellow 'Super Weatherstrip Adhesive'. I'll restrain myself from revealing the term that stuff branded the users with...
Permatex Gasket Maker is RTV, and they claim it's a fast-curing formula. Maybe you just got a bad tube. .
As Squirrel said use the form a gasket along with Loctite 598 for the intake and pan corners. I have found that Permatex Products have to much silicon and silicon does not get along with oil base application.
I've posted this before; the guy I bought my Super Comp rear motored dragster from must have had a sponsorship deal with an RTV sealer company (in particular the clear blue stuff). The stuff was EVERYWHERE! It was applied between body panels, so they would't vibrate I guess, the engine had the stuff everywhere, and about the time I thought I had it all cleaned up, I found more, it was used throughout the Powerglide transmission also, and in the rear end. BUT, the oddest thing I found was a rubber sheet about 4 inches by 4 inches (like a dental dam) in the oil pan, just floating around loose I suppose. How and why it was't sucked up against the oil pump pickup, who knows. I completely rebuilt/replaced everything on that car, and to this day, I don't understand why anyone would use so much RTV sealer everywhere, like the guy did. That was in about 86, and just may have a little to do with why I'm, not a big RTV sealer fan. I am butch/56sedandelivery.
there are not a lot of places i use silicone sealer, the intake gasket ends [front and back of the block] and the spot the side gaskets meet the block are the few places i do. the last intake manifold i bought, had in the instructions to "discard rubber end gaskets and use a 1/4 bead of silicone, let firm up, then install intake."
The only RTV in my shop (for many years) is Permatex UltraBlack. It doesn't run or ooze when it comes out of the tube. But it does set up solid, which I would think is a must for the end seals. I do use the red gasket maker for gasket dressing.
The stuff you want is Permatex THE RIGHT STUFF . It comes in a can and dispenses like Cheeze Whiz. It is the best product ever for replacing rubber or cork end seals. You lay down a bead and it seals like no other. Trust me, this is what you want if you are eliminating a gasket or seal. Don
Permatex makes several different "Gasket Maker" products. If it's the red translucent stuff, it will never set up.
The rigid "grey" 82194 Permeatex & it's caulking / cheese whiz tube styled counterparts is hands down one of the the best silicones introduced in years, unless your gonna remove the item being sealed a lot. It tacks up fast and is excellent as well as the other colors for end gaskets. Some guys like to make "punch like dimples in the surface for it to "bite" into ..... But not me. The gray is awesome & I usually paint my engines " gm Cortez silver with an old Bink's #7 spray gun so it blends in, for most street duty rigs I just go with the best looking color, but for top grip that grey is a bummer to remove. Silicone has to be one of the most misused products I've dealt with & sold in my 30 plus years in the machine shop/ garage/ parts business. Felpro rep friend years ago said it was s shame putting all their research & development in to a head gasket sealing surface only to see somebody ruin it with hi tack or spray paint........ Even though I've been guilty of copper coating before. But only on crappy graphite gaskets. I bet if all of the bolts came out of an oil pan that had grey on it it'd not fall off! Silicone flavors are like soda pop, whatever floats your boat .....blue, red, black, copper, clear, etc. I remember when the colors started appearing. Good luck sir. Flux. Old package New package
These two, anything else is crap. Blue shit has no use anywhere on a car, gas grill or water fountain!
I use this also. For small block Chevy intakes I put a small film of Permatex #2 around the water passages and on the front and rear rubber gaskets, (both sides of the gaskets). I'll put an extra dab of sealer in the corners where the gaskets meet. Set the intake on the engine. Run the bolts in finger tight and then let it sit. Give the sealer time to set up overnight, (or a full day), before torqueing the bolts down.
Yep, last set I used had a "note" that a 3/16th bead of sealer could be used. I always use the black stuff, no stink, no leaks.
I use this from GM. They give their mechanics three tubes to do an intake. It only takes half that much, so if you know a mechanic he'll usually have a lot of extra tubes in his tool box. .
I like the ultra grey sealer a lot. I also use the brown aviation sealer too. I have also used the purple gasket maker in the can with the brush in the lid. For the ends on a SBC I would use the grey.
I have been up this creek before myself. Back in 09 I bought a Port City Road Race car from a friend to get me through a time during another build that was taking forever. Anyway the car had just been gone through by a local race shop ( they were THE SHOP to go to) and the Jerico was rebuilt by these guys. Well the first thing I noticed was the shit job on the safety wire job, this was my clue and I knew it at the time. So 3 races into it the trans takes a crap. First the front bearing retainer was packed with the blue shit and no oil was getting to the bearing because it was full of the blue crap. The two Jerico oil pumps were also packed full of this shit which destroyed the pumps ($1000) and sent the pretty blue crap into the Q/C and started taking its toll there also. I railed this shop at the races as total hacks and they had no business holding a wrench. I caused a lot of friction and made a few enemies. The shop did get closed up for a while and bought out by another Big NorCal chassis shop. Point is the right tool or materials for the job. And the right person doing the job.
Was at a local repair shop, the owner races dirt track and was using a regular caulking gun and hardware store silicon caulk putting his SBC back together. Dunno if they use it on customer cars but I guess if you're pulling your motor down constantly it saves some bucks over the automotive stuff and lasts at least long enough.