Hello, I was in the process of detailing my engine and had removed my exhaust manifolds off my 65 Chevy to use Eastwoods hi temp coating. I have the 327 and noticed they had no exhaust manifold gaskets. I spoke with some people and was told that year did not come with gaskets from the factory, others said it should have gaskets. Any suggestions? I was told to use Hylomar (Permatex) 25249 in place of a gasket. Any help would be great. Thanks all!

No gaskets required on stock iron manifolds.

Is a high temp RTV required?
I'd imagine an exhaust leak with no RTV or gasket..

The cast iron manifold and the head were bolt machined to a flat surface with a large surface area in contact. It does not need any sealant provided the manifold is not warped (sits flat). The cast iron manifold expands at the same rate as the cast iron head, so there will never be an exhaust leak requiring a gasket. Gaskets are only required with dissimilar materials (aluminum head and a cast iron manifold for example), or you go to a thin mild steel tube manifold that distorts out of shape as it heats up (and it has a very small ground O-ring sized sealing surface).

Larger Dave