Fixed the intake and throttle body vacuum leaks, but not in the way I expected.
Had the intake manifold milled flat on both surfaces. Had a gasket company make softer Viton gaskets, which should compress more and give even more sealing power. I torqued everything down.
Still leaked. About half as the original un-milled wavy surface was, but still significant leaks everywhere.
Decided to do the old tried and true messy method. Permatex's The Right Stuff gasket maker. It's instantaneous, and it works, no matter what. Pressure tested perfectly to 25 psi about 20 mins after install.
So now, of course, there's another mysterious problem. Turned the car on after the pressure test, and forgot to remove the cap I put over the exhaust, and it didn't blow off instantly during cranking. The car actually started up and ran, indefinitely until I noticed and turned it off. So obviously there's a big exhaust leak, because usually on a couple cranks during starting that thing BLOWS off.
We noticed a 3 bolt flange under the car midway down was, in fact, loose, but I believe there is still a large leak source in the chaotic looking turbo manifold setup.
I drove the car briefly and it doesn't build boost well at all. It's slow. The BOV is near-silent when I try to get it to spool up and let off. There is something significantly wrong that is preventing the car from building pressure and being efficient as it was.
Hopefully it's as simple as a major boost leak in the charge piping somewhere, like the intercooler is trash, or the BOV is missing its seal so it's staying open and leaking all the air. Currently researching and analyzing potential causes of this odd behavior.
I know the goop was squeezed out during installation, which means it also squeezed out in the ports, and hopefully all that excess flapping around either stays there dangling or is harmlessly is eaten by the engine. I should have had a custom blue fel-pro material gasket made and then spread a thin layer of The Right Stuff on both surfaces like I used to. This time I followed the instructions and laid a thin bead. Hopefully doesn't bite me.
Also, the poly/aluminum engine mount causes INSANE vibration levels for the rest of the car. My entire car shakes so much. The fenders and hook are quite noisy. Wife will probably like the vibrations, though. But holy shit are they intense right now. Car sounds like it will fall apart when idling at a light to everyone around it. However, the shifting is vastly improved. Feels good on clutch engagement and such. Might have to change the bushings on this mount to a softer durometer, though.