[DonC]

I just reinstalled the intake manifold on my 428 big block and came up with a procedure that you might want to consider for initial placement of the manifold. Still a 2 person job but this helped reduce the paranoia about getting it indexed.
Took two 5 inch 3/8 X 16 bolts and cut the heads off, smoothed and rounded the cut ends and slotted them to allow using a screw driver to assist in their removal.
Installed the modified bolts in the front and rear intake bolt holes in the head. Lifted he manifold high enough to get the modified bolts in the front and real holes of the intake manifold and then slowly slid it down the modified bolts until it was resting on the heads. Installed the rest of the bolts finger tight and then removed the modified bolts and replaced them with the proper bolts for those locations.
Paid attention to the admonitions about the extra sealant around the water jacked holes and in the corners at the front and rear of the edge gasket areas and installed the distributor temporarily while tightening the bolts down to insure the distributor hole remained in alignment while the bolts were being tightened.
Did a test run dry just to make sure everything cleared and it went very smoothly.
The whole thing was driven by my concern about getting the front and rear edges lined up properly with the thick bead of sealant that is used instead of the gaskets supplied with the manifold gasket set per Edlebrock's recommendations.
DonC