[HO455]

As long as the heads haven't been milled a bunch, the gaskets still work. But as you said you have to pay attention and glue one side down before dropping the intake on. Lots of folks find it faster to lay a 3/8" bead of sealant on the block and drop the intake down on the sealant and be done with it. Just different ways of doing the same thing. Now if the heads have been cut on there may be no room for a gasket and you're forced to use sealant instead of a gasket. There is also a case to be made for the new generation of sealants making a gasket free seal virtually leak free. Permatex's Right Stuff is an excellent product as are anaerobic style sealants. But these are more expensive than the old school RTV silicone products. But sometimes good old #1 or #2 Permatex is still best. Over the years I have tried lots of products and found some that work for me and some that didn't.