Sounds like your pissed and over-killing this problem. Be careful here you might make things worse.
Was the old intake also a Vic Jr?
Was the old intake port matched to the heads?
Did you have the new intake port matched to the heads?
The original intake may be perfectly fine. My problem was that the threads in the heads were not tapped deep enough and the bolts were bottoming out before they pulled the intake down.
You may want to slow down and start checking for what was wrong. Don't assume an idiot bolted it together wrong. You might get done and have the same problem and then you will be the idiot that bolted it together wrong.
I hate it when that happens to me!