Chris, I ran a pair of old chromed 97's on my flathead for 15 years. Never a leak . Only once did something get past my filter and cause my needle valve to stick and flood out. I had these carbs rebuilt by Vintage Speed. Charlie has fixtures to mill all gasket surfaces flat again, uses the proper torque on all screws, and uses more modern parts in the rebuild. There are others who do the same. I struggled rebuilding those old Holleys for years, could never quite get them right. Guess I should have had them done professionally. Rich