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Help me get my heads right

jordan89

New member
Guys, I'm working on a '97 Prix GTP, and am having some issues figuring out head gasket placement. I bought the FelPro head gasket set that comes with head gaskets part# 9089PT, but they don't specify Left or Right. How should they be placed? There is a difference on both sides with one side having no letters and being flat, and the other side having letter and saying R1. Has anybody encountered this problem? Thanks in advance.
 


Does it have an arrow? the arrow faces the front.


I don't recommend felpro for headgaskets, you should stick with stock.
 
Cometic's suck.

Fel-pro's are fine for a supercharged car. Just don't let it knock. You will also need new bolts if you aren't installing head studs.
 
What head gaskets do you recommend? I am about to rebuid my new used motor and dont want to be here again doing a head job! I totally agree about new bolts since they are a one time use only. I also picked up two new knock sensors as well with my rebuild.
 
I recommend Victor/Reinz head gaskets. I've had really good luck with them. Carquest carries them. You can also get them from Rockauto.

What are your mods? You may want to consider going with ARP studs instead of OEM style bolts.
 


I got the FelPro's because I work at O'Reilly, and because I always use Felpro on my other cars without any problems. I do have new head bolts and everything. They do have arrows, but when I lay down the head gasket for the left side (letters up on gasket) the arrow points backward. I looked on Rock Auto, and various other sites to see if there was a mistake, but the part numbers are the same for both sides for the FelPro head gaskets.
 
Umm.. I might actually have pics.. Let me look



EDIT:
As it turns out I didnt get any pics with the heads off and the HG on...
 
Here are the pic's I have from the last time I did this. Maybe you can blow these up and see. I can't remember which way the arrows went, but they will only work one way. It should be fairly obvious. I'm pretty sure that one faces towards the front of the motor, and the other will end up facing rearwards.

2012-11-28_20-55-03_723-1_zpsb9f3dcc8.jpg


2012-12-01_11-50-47_610-1_zps19dd20d5.jpg


2012-12-01_11-50-58_45-1_zpse304c35d.jpg
 


Thank you for the pics. The odd thing about the FelPro's is that the arrow faces towards the back of the engine when installed on the left side. That's why I haven't continued putting this car together. I see the arrow on the pic is facing the correct side with Victor gaskets.
 
Yup that's a issue with the Felpros gasket for the l67/l32. Funny thing is you can get the l26/l36 Felpros me they're labeled correct and cheaper the the l67/l33.
 
Yup that's a issue with the Felpros gasket for the l67/l32. Funny thing is you can get the l26/l36 Felpros me they're labeled correct and cheaper the the l67/l33.

The thing is that they came with head gasket set. I was out checking earlier on today, and layer the head gasket down a few times, and it seems right to me. This thing can't possibly go the other way, as the flat side (with no writing) always goes on the engine side. If my mind serves me right, I think I had a similar issue with my Camaro. I'll probably just end up installing them that way since they look like the Victor gaskets in the image above, when installed for fitting purposes.
 


Quick Update:
Just contacted Federal Mogul, and they just confirmed that the arrow MUST face forward toward the front of the engine. They said that it must be flipped, no matter where the stripes on the gasket face. I always thought that the stripes meant up, but I've just confirmed that this is not true. You learn something new everyday, and I don't mind learning at all. I post this update for any future Felpro 9089PT gasket users. Thank you everyone for your help.
 
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