Doing a Head Job on my 93. Why are there no exhaust manifold gaskets? The new Gasket set has them. Totally confused

 

If the head and the exhaust manifold are very flat, they seal well without a gasket. I had an issue with my 89 with the 2.9L engine. The right exhaust manifold warped a little after quite a few miles of towing which resulted in an exhaust leak. I set the exhaust manifold up on a precision surface grinder. That solved the problem for many miles, but it eventually got the leak again. I surface ground it again and used an exhaust gasket. That exhaust gasket did not last very long before it burned out resulting in a worse exhaust leak.

I surface ground it again and eliminated the exhaust gasket. I decided to not install the heat shield/box or whatever you call it. I though it may be keeping to much heat in and causing the manifold to warp. That solved the problem, and I never had another exhaust leak again.

If your exhaust manifold is very slightly warped, an exhaust gasket should help to seal it. If you don't run it hard, the gasket may hold up well. If your manifold it very flat, you don't need the gasket. One thing many people and I do when installing an exhaust gasket that is designed to work without a gasket is to smear a very thin layer of high temperature silicone on the manifold before installing it. It will not help with a warped manifold but works very well with a flat manifold and head combination. Just make sure the silicone is very thin.