Are the intake manifold rear coolant ports supposed to be blocked? There was some sludge in the heads at those ports that I cleaned out. From other pictures (talon) on this website, it looks to me like these are naturally plugged by the manifold.

 

Yep just clean it up real good and proceed.

 

make sure you prep it well and use felpro gaskets and that black gasket sealant.On the front and back go an inch father than you need on each side with the black sealant.I just did this a while ago and turned out perfect.