Yeah, well... there are a number of parts that are not correct at that car (call it my shameful old bucket). When I bought it in 2001 (for quite a reasonable price)I knew that it's a clone. But I wanted it . Then I started in 2007 to "repair only the transmission".

Now after all the time I found incorrect parts everywhere - and decided to leave alone whatever works and looks well . I was very satisfied with the engine, it pulled a hell of hard and cruised well - only idle was not reliable .

I'm very surprised (one time more) that the manifold was modified. After googling a while I found out that some people did/do that with that particular manifold ("notch out the dual plane divider" - while removing it entirely is not exactly that) to rise top end performance. I think I leave the manifold since I really cannot say the engine is weak at low end.

Choke just worked - however it opened the flap when hot and that should be alright.

I also checked the outboarders in the meantime and found that the rear was tight while the front had a small leak too, but not that much like the center, which indeed had a wide leak. It's perfectly visible when checking the old gaskets if they were seated between surfaces or not.

So I'll give it a try to just sand down the baseplates of center and front and apply a renew set to the center. May be I'll cut a bit fatter gaskets for the baseplates myself - can't take a 1/4" spacer since it's very, very tight under the hood. I think sealant is not the best choice since it's hardly gas-resistant.

And I'll replace all the rubber hoses against fresh. Have manual brakes, so no leak possible there.

I assume the engine may be more stock than not - not too seriously modified. There are still hydraulic lifters in, that's what I could see with valve cover off. I really don't want to take it apart when it runs that good.

I'll see how the first try works ...