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Head Gaskets...

newfie

New member
I'm looking at doing some "extra" mods on the car over the winter, which will include replacing the head gaskets. I was told that I can use stock head gaskets as replacements, but I want reliable performance gaskets that can stand up to abuse and boost from the turbo. A friend told me about "Strain Head Gaskets" but I cannot find anything on the web about them. I was also looking at these from ZZP: ZZ Performance

What do you guys suggest? Any other gaskets out there that you used and worked well with boosted engines?
 


I am running the MLS's and have had good luck so far. I read a while back that the GN guys would drill out the rivets so they could take the layers apart and get a good coat of copper spray on them all. This helped them seal better. How much boost are you planning on running?
 
I'm running ~16 lbs now, and will be porting my heads/manifolds and running a bigger cam, so I'm not sure if I will be going much higher that ~20 lbs or so...
 
If i ever end up going ported heads and cam im doing felpro stockers. If they can hold 30psi or so on the ttgt they can take what i throw at them. You just want to make sure their is no detonation which at high psi levels you dont want anyways.:p
 


I'm going with the ARP bolt kit, and was told that Felpro stockers would be fine, I just don't want to take any chances on blowing them...
 
make sure you wrap the threads that thread into the block with Teflon tape.....so they dont leak coolant....
 


Thanks for the heads up on the teflon tape!

Where did you guys get your gaskets from? Did you stay with the stock thickness?
 
Come over and I can show what happens when headgaskets leak coolant in the motor. It's not good. Motor #3 coming soon.
 


If you don't mind me asking how come you spun the bearings on the 1st and 2nd motor? I just am asking so I don't end up doing the same thing. Was it because of coolant in the oil, or over reving them?
 
jason throw a stock l32 in it and make sure the headgaskets and all are sealed well and be done with it. Im sure their was a coolant leak somewhere both times and spun the bearing. At the boost levels you were running im sure if their was any small leaks anywhere the added boost didnt help it.
 
If you don't mind me asking how come you spun the bearings on the 1st and 2nd motor? I just am asking so I don't end up doing the same thing. Was it because of coolant in the oil, or over reving them?
1st motor story: you could say I over rev'd the car a little. But I caused it, no leaks...etc.
2nd motor story: don't have a ****ty shop build your car. You're better off doing it yourself. THe shop didnt properly seal the MLS headgaskets = coolant in oil..and ya. Back to square one again. Though this time is a bit different on the rebuild.
 
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