Here's my two cents on the second part.

Try a few gentle taps with a rubber mallet on the plenumn, double and triple check to be sure you got all the bolts first. If I remember right there's one that's kind of hidden.

The gasket between the upper and lower plenumn should be the metal type. while the lower intake is a thicker metallic coated type. If you have paper in there thats probably a clue that the rebuilder didnt use the best quality gasket set.

Felpro makes decent gaskets and that's what I used doing my last job of pulling the intake to do the VLA's. But I have to say that their valve cover gaskets for this engine suck. they are a bit ill fitting and are missing the little tabs on the sides that help retain the gasket in the valve cover. They seem to be made of good quality material but the fitment with these is a PITA. I went ahead and used them because that was what I had on hand already. If I did it over I would use OEM Valve cover gaskets or try another brand of aftermarket.

FELPRO is usually on the shelf at most sstores for this engine so it makes it tough to go OEM if your on a budget. I used permatex high tack (spray on) on the Valcover surface, wiped off the excess, then mounted the gaskets to the valve cover. I set the Vcovers on a flat suface with a little weight on top to allow the sealant to tack up for a while and then installed the covers with the dabs of RTV in the corners as the FSM specifies. The high tack sealant helps keep the gasket from slipping out of place. I like to torque the VC bolts to factory spec as well that way Im sure that I didnt over or under tighten. HTH

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