<VV> Exhaust Seals

[Anil Mittal]

  I have a 66 140 with a PG transmission. I use the stock exhaust
manifolds and Clark's Extractors. I took the whole exhaust system off
the car this weekend to have it Jet Hot coated and noticed that I had
pretty decent sized leaks at 3 of the 6 seals between the manifolds
and the exhaust tubes. I had 2 on one head and 1 on the other. The
seals were partly gone and I could see the tube and manifold stained
with black where the seals failed. The seals seemed to be made of
some fairly powdery clay like pinkish substance, they were probably 7
or 8 years old. What type of seals are reccomended to keep this from
happening again, graphite or soft aluminum? The aluminum ones seem to
be reccomended to get headers to seal well but I can't see why they
can't be used with the stock manifolds. Thanks in advance.

Anil