2 Different types of Series II lower intake gaskets -which?
 

Hi guys, having done a trans swap, full exhaust, sway bars, and 4 KYB struts on my LeSabre in the past couple weeks, I figure I'll do the upper and lower manifold gaskets while I'm still on a roll. The car only has 70k miles on it (and a ton of work has been done to keep it going this far!) and it is using coolant and oil. I am losing coolant at a rate of about 1" in the reservoir every 2 weeks. I burn about 1 qt oil for every 1500 miles of driving. Not astronomical fluid usage, but much more than par for a fairly low mileage engine. It seems to reason that degeneration of the gaskets for my plastic intake are the culprit here. Parts stores show 2 different types of lower gasket kits for the Series II -- the "first design", which has rubber end seals ($36 Fel pro kit) and the "second design" which has plastic end seals ($54 Felpro kit). Are these interchangeable, and I can just pick which design lower gasket kit to use, or must I use the exact same type that my car currently has? I have not taken the manifold off yet, so I do not know which type of lower gasket kit I have. If I get to pick and choose, should I go with the second design w/ plastic end seals?

seals
 

I used Felpro kit MS 95809 on my 96. It had rubber end seals. Dont' think that is the problem on these cars. Its the rubber around the intake ports that deteriorates and leaks.
You will see how bad they are when you remove your lowers.