I have this question too. It seems to me that the best recommendation I've seen here - iirc - would actually be to use the bark between the 1/4" and insect screen (which is easy to find). I might be wrong though. Maybe that was just for the gritty only? Maybe the just-under-half inch - or, what goes through a 1/2" screen - is just fine for 5-1-1. I see that some people here have had good results with the 1/2 inch screen - and that's good news - yet given that it is prime repot season in North Am now, I am hoping for more people to chime in. (I'd love for 1/2" screen to work.) I've read a bunch of the threads and somehow I don't seem to get a fix on this yet. Sorry if it is rude to re-ask, or if I am hijacking. Like so much else, my internet etiquette is not always ideal.

which Osmocote did you use? And what are the varieties?

Bucky, IMO, the best thing you can do is to keep the coolant at maximum full level at all times. It has been my experience that when Dexcool gets low and mixes with air for an extended period of time, it becomes really nasty and gunky. Also, although the extended coolants are suppose to go 100,000+ miles, I think you would be best served to flush and refill the system a little more frequently than that. Some of the intake manifold bolts are easier to access than others. I do not advise retorquing retorquing the easy bolts and not the others as this may actually put more uneven pressure on the gasket and potentially cause a leak. I do not see any benefits in spending the time and/or money to simply retorque the intake manifold bolts because of accessability issues. Once you get to them you might as well take the few additional steps (removing valve covers, rocker arms, pushrods, intake, etc.) and go ahead and replace the gaskets.

OMG, did I write this: like blinkers on a horse???? BLINDERS on a horse. My excuse: I typed this out 3 times--I kept losing it (deleted it from the pasteboard bcs I didn't know how the buttons work; kicked the power strip and turned the machine off). It's a typo; same finger, different hand. Thanks, all! There's still more that can come out; one of those boxes has out-of-season clothes in it for DD, and I know that not a one of them will fit her. But I put my blinDers back on, and put it on the shelf. I can only tackle so much at a time, and I had a deadline. i think I may get to those clothes before month's end.