ok well on ls1speed.com they have the header gaskets and i cant choose which one, well they have the Percys MLS header gaskets for 36.99 and then they have the original GM steel gasket for 19.99. now i am wondering will the factory gasket be just as good as the MLS gasket?? its alot cheaper for the pair and says wont leak.

 

The oem gasket is mls. No reason to buy anything else but the oem gasket.

 

Yep, the OEM gaskets work awesome. I've never had a problem with them.

 

ok plus its cheaper thats always good, the other one is 7 layered and the OEM is 3 layered steel so that works for me.

 

I went with new OEM MLS gaskets. Retorqued 1 time
and absolutely no leaks at all. Install was 3 months ago.

 

yeah my friend and me are gonna install the headers and then go out for a run with open headers and then come back and retorque the bolts just to make sure there are no leaks, he says thats a good way to keep from header leaks. anyone else do this???

 

also the thing that i am really worried about is breaking a header bolt, is there any way to keep from doing this b/c that would suck *** majorly. i heard they are tough bolts but i have heard of people breaking them and thats the last thing i need.

 

Not trying to steal the thread. But i'm getting ready to install header's with the OEM gasket's. Would you guys recommend put 2 gasket's per side. In case the flange is warped alittle.

 

NO. If you have a warped flange, fix it before install.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about breaking a bolt when removing them.
My stock header bolts came out pretty easy. I think I had about 34k miles at the time. When you need to be careful is on install. This goes without saying but use a little bit of anti-sieze and thread them in by hand first.

 

yeah i have anti seize for my spark plugs and you say use it on the header bolts and thread them in by hand and then tighten them or bring them back out and then put them in again?? what is the best method to make sure the header bolts go in right i mean it shouldnt be that hard right, im sure if i thread them in by hand until i cant tighten them anymore with my fingers they are pretty much in there straight.

 

yes sorry for any confusion, I just meant to get them started far enough by hand so you know they are not cross threading before you use a wrench, ratchet, air ratchet, etc. to tighten them. I didn't tq. mine, just went until tight. Check em again after a few hundred miles. When I checked mine they were still snug as a bug.

 

ok thanks for the advice.

 

what is the torque setting for them if you want to torque them instead of just tightning them?

 

isnt it like 22lbs of torque or somethin around there??

 

I cut my hand on the GM MLS headers gasket. That's the only problem I have had with them.

 

I broke a bolt off in the head of mine, thats why my heads are off

 

are the header bolts fragile or what i dont see why they would break unless you were standing on the wrench stomping on it to break the bolt free, i understand they rust but they shouldnt rust inside the heads. is there something you can spray on them to make them break free better????

 

ive done many headers on LT1's and LS1's. never broke a bolt, even though most of the LT1's were rusted in. Done headers on two v6 camaros and on both of them the front driver side bolt broke. Its right next to teh EGR so im guessing that is why that bolt is weaker. but once the manifold was off, there is enough sticking out to twist it with vise grips.