i have a edlebrock performer intake and it says not to use the gasgets on thefront or rear on the manifold but to put a 1/4in. ribbon of rtv should i do that and it i do it wrong what will happen?? thanks

 

Yep do what it says in the instructions. When you use the sealer, its a good idea to do a practice run on a scrap of cardboard so that you are confidant of getting a nice consistant bead all the way along the surface.
The reason for using the rtv instead of a gasket is that this is that after engine rebuilds, the distance between the manifold sealing surface and the block can become larger or smaller depending on how mush material was machined away from the deck and heads. Using RTV means the size of that gap doesn't matter. Make sure the surfaces are very clean. I use prepsol.

 

Yep, RTV Blue does wonders in taking up space where a gasket can't.

 

+1 I didn't believe it either but it really is the way to go.