Is there one brand of RTV that's better than the other? Any suggestions?

 

Just the standard Black should work. Permatex stuff is pretty good. I've never had problems with it. The rubber ends are garbage. I have never had a set seal properly for any length of time. Put enough on there that it will seal and seep a little out, without letting it goop up and run in to the valley. Once you torque the manifold down, run your finger along the seams to make sure it's spread evenly and there are no gaps. Are you using any gasket sealer on the intake portion of the gasket?

 

I'm not replacing the valley pan gasket. I am only replacing the IM gasket and t/body gasket.