Well, there is a seal all around the plate, refer to page 2B-15 of the Haynes manual for details.

here's what the block looks like (Click the link)

http://mmeierle.com/images/Max/Blue%...ne%20Front.jpg

did you get all the bolts? you can see by the brown marks where the seal goes.

maybe the series of shots here will help.

http://mmeierle.com/blue_engine.htm