Intake manifold rear crossover / Head gasket question

[EP429]

Sorry in advance if this is confusing

Here's what Ive got - heads & block have the steam passage holes.
I have two Performer RPM intakes, one with the rear water crossover, one without.
Only problem with the one with the crossover is it has some strange pipe-fitting in the heater hose return hole that I can't get out. I have no idea how it got in there, it's completely round save for the threads

Anyways, I'm swapping my heads out on my 302, I noticed while running my old setup that it got hot in a hurry (non-crossover intake) Not to the overheating point, but it didn't like me to put my foot into it.

I pulled the heads today, and the thing that cofused me was the head gaskets were not open in the front where they were in the back for the steam-holes. I know that the water will still get through the block etc, but if the front was blocked up by the gasket and the back hole was not there on this intake, wouldn't that cause a severe lack of flow?

Should I cut the holes in the front of the gaskets or leave them be? If by some miracle I can get that fitting out of the other intake, would the rear crossover help cooling enough to be worth using?
I may just be putting too much thought into this, I just want to get it together good this time so I don't need to do another tear-down in the next 5-10 years

 

[D.Hearne]

The front coolant port in the head gasket is closed to force the coolant to flow towards the rear of the block before it runs up into the heads. That intake with the rear coolant crossover has nothing to do with it. The factory intakes don't have that crossover passage. The coolant flow is supposed to go toward the back of the block then up to the heads, then back thru the heads to the front of the intake. Do not open the front ports, they're supposed to be that way. Opening them only allows the coolant to "short cut" it's way to the front of the intake and back to the radiator, that allows the heat to build up unnecessarily in the rear of the engine. Put the gaskets on backwards on a 351C/351M or 400 and you've got a recipe for disasster. On a 289/302, it only causes the engine to run hot(at least) and overheat occasionally(at the most)

 

[SoCalCruising]

A rear cross-over helps to cool the heads, but also warms the intake. Warming the intake warms the air/fuel charge. Pick your poison.

I installed a crossover on my Weber manifold at the urging of several people who said it would definitely help cooling. On a Weber intake, that can be done in a way that does not warm the intake charge, so there was no price to pay in terms of performance. BTW, a Stealth intake has the cross-over and I don't hear anyone complaining about performance issues with that intake. Personally, I'd use the intake with the cross-over if you have a hi-perf motor. Stockers don't have an issue with cooling, generally (assuming properly functioning stock cooling system) and can get away without it.

 

[SadbutTrue]

A rear cross-over helps to cool the heads, but also warms the intake. Warming the intake warms the air/fuel charge. Pick your poison.

I installed a crossover on my Weber manifold at the urging of several people who said it would definitely help cooling. On a Weber intake, that can be done in a way that does not warm the intake charge, so there was no price to pay in terms of performance. BTW, a Stealth intake has the cross-over and I don't hear anyone complaining about performance issues with that intake. Personally, I'd use the intake with the cross-over if you have a hi-perf motor. Stockers don't have an issue with cooling, generally (assuming properly functioning stock cooling system) and can get away without it.

What gasket would you recommend for a Stealth? I have one thats going on in a month or so and would hate to buy the wrong intake gasket for it.

 

[D.Hearne]

Gasket choice depends on the heads you use. They all have the coolant port open to the rear if that's what you're wondering. I use the Felpro 1262's with my Canfield heads.