Hood seal and fumes/leaks

Can anyone tell how well the underhood seal is supposed to fit?

My 266k mile ‘96 didn’t have a seal when I bought it. I’m not near my 445k mile ‘96 to check. But I know that I don’t get any fumes on that one.

I just got my hands on a “good used” seal, but it doesn’t quite make the width, see here:



about 1/2” on each side. It definitely helps reduce the fumes in the cabin when stopped with HVAC on.

I do have a manifold issue. The gasket most forward looks replaced/newer than the others, but still “old”, and it is subject to manifold expansion issues.

Furthest forward and most rearward look like this:




The center more cylinders show some mismatch too.


I love old diesels but don’t want to be breathing fumes unnecessarily. I have one or two old MB diesels that I’m also experiencing this with, I think from the manifold to turbo gasket. But those cars also have a two piece manifold with a flex tube partway, I suspect to help deal with different rates of expansion.

Any recommendations on where to start? Should I just remove the whole manifold? Should I replace it?

I may do a preeemptive head gasket so prepping now is the best bet.

Thanks!!