Rick,
Here's what the non-reinforced Fel-Pro Print-O-Seal gaskets look like after about 11,000 miles of heat cycles:
http://www.firstcoastcobraclub.com/v...c.php?f=8&t=13
It doesn't seem to matter whether it's a 351, 289, FE or 460. I have matching pictures of all those engines' intake gaskets. If you put enough heat cycles on them, they will do their trick. If you are lucky, the
antifreeze will go onto the engine's outside, then onto the ground. If not, it will go into the lifter valley
Retorquing these will not get you any extra heat cycles; in fact, it may hasten their self-destruction. Fel-Pro verified this to me at last years' PRI show. They have gone to a reinforced version with a thin piece of sheet steel between the gasket material layers to prevent this creep. Note this happens at both the intake ports and the water passages.
This won't happen with a low mileage engine, or a racing engine that is opened up frequently, which was the intent of the original gasket.
Either the new reinforced Fel-Pros or the Victor Reinz would make a good long-lasting seal.
Hope this sheds some light,
Tom