That'd make sense. I see your logic. The garlock actually seems to be sealing better than the stock. I'll have to get in there and spray all around it with starter fluid to find out. I'm ordering some gaskets off of TDC. I'll let you all know what I think of them once installed.
I believe the reason why it's still leaking is because that silicone bead is raised up and when I cut it away, there was a large section that was uneven. I think that if I had used more RTV in that section and not started the car right away I wouldve been fine. Throughout this process I discovered that Kohl's has high temperature silicone sheets made for baking if anyone needs to make a gasket. They are rated for 500 degrees.
So far I think ZZP completely dropped the ball on this a few parts of this kit. A few brackets had to be modified/hacked and not all where mentioned in the directions. IMO some of it was a bit ghetto. I would rather pay a few dollars more for a slightly better kit. Gaskets where utter FAIL. The directions don't correlate with the pictures. I wouldn't have a problem if they left out the no brainers and filled in the details specific to the kit but they didn't. Did I get the first half of it done? Yes but I stood there for a while staring at the directions and my engine before saying **** it and did it my way.
On the other hand, the components that really count seem to be of good quality. Let's hope part two (piping, front mount heat exchanger, pump) isn't too much harder.
I thank you all very much for the help you've provided so far. Ahh I can't wait to get that SC belt back on
