I keep hearing about cometic head gaskets, are they the best ? Are they MLS ? Do they come in different thicknesses and do they have a small bore size for the 4.8/5.3L ? Are they about the same prices as Fel-Pro ? I’m looking for a good set with the smallest cc I can do and get proper quench clearance. I gotta wait till after build to confirm piston deck heights. I’m doing a TRUE Blueprint Rebuild on a mild torque engine 420-450 torque/HP build.

 

best is subjective but yes they are good and yes they are MLS, little more than parts store felpro junk but worth it, also available in multiple bore sizes and thicknesses

 

I’ve been out of rebuilding engines for 2 decades but it’s interesting that you say Fel-Pro junk as back then they were the go to heads gaskets including intake, valve cover and header exhaust gaskets. Especially when looking for larger port sizes. What’s now the best? Especially if looking for performance intake (cathedral ports) and header gaskets?

 

there are "performance" felpro gaskets available but the standard stuff youre gonna pick up at a local parts store is nothing special

google is your friend here for the intake/header gaskets as i dont know what youre running or trying to accomplish

 

slightly bigger than stock, 706 heads, porting/ port matching intake n exhaust ( yes I know intake on head side slightly bigger while headers need to be slightly bigger than exhaust port side)

 

Cometc does offer head gaskets, They are MLS and I believe the off the shelf bore size is like 3.910 and they go down to like .036

 

As for Fel-Pro, I'll second that. Unless their QC has nosedived, I sure wouldn't say they're junk. I never had one problem with them on SBCs. They were top notch gaskets in the 80s and 90s. The ones I used were composite. Never blew one OR had one leak. Including one 383 SBC that I ran a 150 NOS nitrous shot on......