Carpokes Porsche Forum

Hey Folks! I can't believe I haven't posted this up earlier, but it's been something I've found strange ever since I owned my 87S. Over the past 2.5 years, I've had the intake manifold on and off at least 10 times. Most of those times, I've installed a brand new intake gasket, many if not all being the Victor Reinz brand.

On an 8V 944, the intake manifolds are separate for each intake port. The writing on the gasket goes "up" EXCEPT for piston #1.

On my S, the writing on the gasket goes down for all the holes to line up. But here's where it gets weird. On EVERY single gasket I've installed, I've had to trim a small amount of the gasket away to clear the water neck closest to the front of the motor. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't have a picture handy and I really don't feel like pulling my IM off again for a quick pic, but wanted to see if anyone else has to do the same? If not, I'll be scratching my head because I think there's only 1 type of water neck for the 16V cars so I doubt someone swapped in the wrong one during the car's lifetime, before my ownership.

I replaced my intake manifold a few weeks ago as a precaution (as I had to go back and remove the manifold to bolt up the alternator console).

I used a Victor Reinz gasket and I had to do that exact trimming operation that you describe. It was a very small piece.

Interesting. I cannot remember needing to trim the gasket on my former 944 S2, which uses the same gasket as the S.
The gasket for the 968 is different as the inlet ports are larger but I did not need to trim it either.

I've had to trim these gaskets twice, near the water outlet flange.

Take a moment to consider the difference between an engine assembler and an engine builder. A builder runs into things that need to be fixed during assembly. It's not a big deal. Go slow, watch what you're doing, and what the engine needs. This slight trim on the intake gasket is just an example of things to watch out for, and easily corrected. Whenever you're using non-Porsche parts, small issues such as these will come up. Watch for them, and fix where necessary.
MM