Head Gasket Suggestions

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Justin Sykes

Justin Sykes

CrewCabDart
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
Messages
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Location
Marietta MS
I have a 1984 Model 318 in my '69 Dart.

I have Hooker longtubes, Edelbrock Performer intake, and recently put in the Comp XE268 cam. I picked up a set of "302" heads from a pull-a-part for $60 and intend to get em to the machine shop for a freshening up with my new components that come in the cam kit. Aiming to just get them surfaced so no major milling. I am aiming for anywhere from 9.2 to 9.5-1 compression.

What thickness head gasket should i aim for? What are some good wallet-friendly solutions?

*I am also open to good header gasket suggestions*

IMG_3677.JPG
 
FelPro Permatorq blue head gaskets and Remflex header gaskets. Don't ask me what the head gasket thickness is I don't know. I THINK they are like .038". Put them on and forget about them, they are that good. Any discussion about thickness is splittin hairs.
 
RustyRatRod said:
FelPro Permatorq blue head gaskets and Remflex header gaskets. Don't ask me what the head gasket thickness is I don't know. I THINK they are like .038". Put them on and forget about them, they are that good. Any discussion about thickness is splittin hairs.
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I think mine measured at .054 uncompressed
 
Justin Sykes said:
I have a 1984 Model 318 in my '69 Dart.

I have Hooker longtubes, Edelbrock Performer intake, and recently put in the Comp XE268 cam. I picked up a set of "302" heads from a pull-a-part for $60 and intend to get em to the machine shop for a freshening up with my new components that come in the cam kit. Aiming to just get them surfaced so no major milling. I am aiming for anywhere from 9.2 to 9.5-1 compression.

What thickness head gasket should i aim for? What are some good wallet-friendly solutions?

*I am also open to good header gasket suggestions*

View attachment 1715536410
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Welcome to the forum Justin! I see you alot on the Facebook pages glad to have you on here now!!
 
dartfreak75 said:
Yea I got the trees cut up and the roof patched I havent got a quote on the insurance yet I'm gonna call again in the morning
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Did you tell them you got frikkin holes in your roof?
 
I understand Mr. Gasket makes head gaskets that are .028" compressed. They are a good gasket & seal well with no problems, just make sure your head & block surfaces are CLEAN, & check the piston to valve clearance before installing any head gasket. You want to bring up the compression on that 84 block 'cause it's probably in the 8-8 1/2 range, (maybe lower, it's a smog motor) & thinner gaskets will bring it up to where you need it. Check out Magnumswap.com for the part number & more info on the gaskets. They are usually sold individually, not in a set, but the price should be very reasonable too. I plan on using them on my Dakota. Fel-Pro makes real good gaskets, but don't have the thinner ones that you want, but get their exhaust gaskets for you headers. you don't want cheap header gaskets, trust me!
 
OP, when the heads are off, carefully measure how much the piston top is down from the deck with the piston at TDC. For that engine it is like going to be in the range of .080". If so, you won't quite make even 9.0 Static CR even if you mill the heads .030" and use a .039" thick head gasket Felpro 1008).

BTW, Felpro standard kit gaskets 8553PT compress to about .050-.051", the Felpro 1008's compress to .039" and the Mr Gasket 1121G compresses to .028". The 1121 G's reportedly need a good flat deck and head.
 
Justin Sykes said:
I have a 1984 Model 318 in my '69 Dart.

I have Hooker longtubes, Edelbrock Performer intake, and recently put in the Comp XE268 cam. I picked up a set of "302" heads from a pull-a-part for $60 and intend to get em to the machine shop for a freshening up with my new components that come in the cam kit. Aiming to just get them surfaced so no major milling. I am aiming for anywhere from 9.2 to 9.5-1 compression.

What thickness head gasket should i aim for? What are some good wallet-friendly solutions?

*I am also open to good header gasket suggestions*

View attachment 1715536410
Click to expand...
Check out Cometic head gaskets.
They offer many different thickness gaskets.
Not cheap but they work very well.
Have used them on 3 builds no issues
 
niceolddart said:
I understand Mr. Gasket makes head gaskets that are .028" compressed. They are a good gasket & seal well with no problems, just make sure your head & block surfaces are CLEAN, & check the piston to valve clearance before installing any head gasket. You want to bring up the compression on that 84 block 'cause it's probably in the 8-8 1/2 range, (maybe lower, it's a smog motor) & thinner gaskets will bring it up to where you need it. Check out Magnumswap.com for the part number & more info on the gaskets. They are usually sold individually, not in a set, but the price should be very reasonable too. I plan on using them on my Dakota. Fel-Pro makes real good gaskets, but don't have the thinner ones that you want, but get their exhaust gaskets for you headers. you don't want cheap header gaskets, trust me!
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Mr. Gasket Head Gaskets 1121G
 
Cometic is probably overkill for the car, but they are great gaskets. If you go with the felpro, I torque them and let them sit overnight, then back them off 1/4 turn and retorque. Doing it in sequence. They always turn a bit more and I have had issues if I don’t do it.
 
Doesn't Cometic require a specific surface finish on the block and head surfaces?
 
yes mor so than the mr gasket
thee .054 are for used car rebuilds
not nearly as fussy
if you need a thick good gasket check out Marine gaskets
 
Cometics MLS type? All of them MLS gaskets require a high RA (smoothness) on the head and block but I think iron on iron are an exception as the AL on iron block heads expand at a different rate and can stress a gasket in a sheering force, the MLS gaskets and the high RA finish prevents this type of stress. Iron on iron expand at the same rate, so there is no sheering force on the gasket.
 
People have had trouble with Mr Gasket head gaskets blowing. That's why I recommended the FelPro. You really have to work to blow those. The difference between the two id splittin hairs on a mild street build. The compressed thickness at .054" is incorrect. That's the before measurement. They compress down to about .035-.038.
 
RustyRatRod said:
People have had trouble with Mr Gasket head gaskets blowing. That's why I recommended the FelPro. You really have to work to blow those. The difference between the two id splittin hairs on a mild street build. The compressed thickness at .054" is incorrect. That's the before measurement. They compress down to about .035-.038.
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Yea I agree! I was gonna go with the mr gasket just to squeeze a little more compression out and then I read the reviews they are alot of reviews negative reviews and the compression difference was so minor I didnt think it was worth the risk. And they are more expensive.
 
dartfreak75 said:
Yea I agree! I was gonna go with the mr gasket just to squeeze a little more compression out and then I read the reviews they are alot of reviews negative reviews and the compression difference was so minor I didnt think it was worth the risk. And they are more expensive.
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which one did you go with?
 
RustyRatRod said:
People have had trouble with Mr Gasket head gaskets blowing. That's why I recommended the FelPro. You really have to work to blow those. The difference between the two id splittin hairs on a mild street build. The compressed thickness at .054" is incorrect. That's the before measurement. They compress down to about .035-.038.
Click to expand...
Just to be clear..... the .039 compressed Felpro is the Felpro 1008. The .050" compressed Felpro is the 8553PT. 2 different gasket PN's; the 8553PT is the standard kit PN.

If you go from the .050" to .028" think head gasket, that is about 0.35 points in compression so is not negligible. You will indeed feel it on the butt-dyno. How much trouble anyone would have on their particular engine with the Mr Gaskets, IDK. But I'd take the precaution to at least have the heads skimmed.

I used very similar composition gaskets to the Mr Gasket for thousands of race miles on my turbo Mitsu rally engine running 14-15 psi boost. Blew a grand total of 1 when the engine got hot and the head warped a bit. Otherwise, A-OK. So it seems to be a mixed story.
 
dano said:
Doesn't Cometic require a specific surface finish on the block and head surfaces?
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I was reading the Cometic site recently, and they have relaxed the RA surfacing requirement some in the last year. What they show now is not as stringent as it used to be....IIRC.
 
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