felpro ex/in gasket faces which way?

Replacing exhaust/intake manifold gasket on '89 4.0 xj. The metal port rings on the gasket are flat on one side and rounded on the otherside. Does it matter which side faces the manifold and which faces the head? I had just replaced the gasket and it blew out after a few hundred miles. Want to get it right and be done.

this is one of those things that always gets me confused when I think about it too much-- I think I put the flat side to the cyl head and the "rounded" side to the manifold, but I too, will defer to others if opinions vary

That's how I did mine. I also used some hi temp RTV to ensure a good seal.

Frankly, I've never paid attention.

If there's a mark saying "This side goes here," I'll follow it.
If the ports line up one way but not the other, then make sure the ports line up.

However, I've always been able to just lightly coat both sides with RTV copper and stick it in there without any trouble. There's going to be some "crush" left in any of the metal rings - they do that to ensure a good seal. However, unless there's some compelling reason to do otherwise, it's just a "line up the ports and go" deal.

Crap. I don't recall seeing any difference between sides on mine when I did it recently. Then again, both sides were liberally coated with CopperKote...hopefully I put it on the right way (if there was one)

Jim www.yuccaman.com