SStroked 410

I got this 408 short block used and it already had been 0-ringed and the guy said they had head gasket problems. Since my motor is at the machine shop should I have them take off the o-ring and run Cometic gaskets? I hear copper gaskets are not too good for a street car and I dont want to have to worry about them always leaking.

what would you guys do?

Reckless

iTrader: (9)

Go with Cometics if your HP is expected to be under 750 at the crank. Plenty of people running them with no issues. Tuning is what will determine the longevity of your head gaskets. But you can't use these with o-rings. How do you plan on removing the o-rings?

Chris@AP-Engineering

iTrader: (-2)

First, if you want to keep your o-rings. Check to see how much they are sticking up out of the deck. If they are up say more than .014" this maybe te cause of his head gasket problems. The o-ring should only be up .010 -.012". What ever you do, like reckless said, don't use the cometic's with o-rings. If you remove the o-rings I would have the block decked.

Good luck,

SStroked 410

Well my plans are over 500rwhp on motor and spray a 200 shot. Then if I ever get board of that I will move up to a 300 shot. So starting out 700rwhp. I will ask my machine shop how much they are sticking out. Decking the block I think is the only way to remove them safely.

so I guess I will stick with copper gaskets, can I use some kind of copper sealant to help them not leak?

LOnSLO

iTrader: (15)

Ydon't want to deck the block enough to get rid of the o-ring. The rings are about .040" deep or so. Either keep what you have and run a sealed copper gasket, like SCE's Titan, or start over with a new block.

Reckless

iTrader: (9)

Agree. You would have to get new pistons more than likely if you deck it enough to remove the grooves. That is why I was asking above.

SStroked 410

I guess I have to try the sealed copper gaskets,

thanks for the replys

Brian Tooley Racing

iTrader: (13)

I would never run copper on the street, we o-ring heads and blocks all the time and run a STOCK GM GRAPHITE gasket. That is what I made 690 RWHP with on my engine through the unlocked 4L60E. That is also what Rob Raymer is running. That is also what we run on our 8 sec Ford street cars. Like Chris said, check to make sure the wire is .010"-.012" out of the block and then just install the graphite gaskets with no coatings or anything, it works great, I promise.

SStroked 410

well I will take your word for it and try the GM's.

I never had any problems with my old h/c n20 set up with GM's. I was just worried cause I hear so many people saying that same thing about using them on a street car.
Thanks