I'd give Brady a thumbs up for not wasting 4 hrs of his life changing gaskets again because of inferior bolts. Would the bolts hold... maybe, but why risk doing it twice? If you need Cometics, you probably need the studs as well.

All my forced induction motors now have head studs & I'll never use a stock gasket again on anything more than a stock rebuild. I will use 1074's for up to 12-13# boost. Above this, don't skimp unless you like wrenching more than driving.

Time is money & every minute you are working on the car is less time you are racing it.

Work smart.......

 

I have to agree with you Arnie.

 

I believe you are 'twisting' this around a bit. Although, I do not disagree with you, on the stud decision, the original discussion centered around gasket choice, not fastener choice. Frankly, I believe Brady omitted the studs originally, unintentionally. I'm stating that cuz, in my book, the studs would have been a good decision, regardless of HG.

...I will use 1074's for up to 12-13# boost. Above this, don't skimp unless you like wrenching more than driving. Time is money & every minute you are working on the car is less time you are racing it. Work smart.

No disagreement with you, on time well spent. Am I to conclude, by your statement, the 1074 is not adequate above the 13# figure, or merely personal preference?

Using different wording, I attempted to note, that Brady (bless his southern heart ) did very little to show/prove to me cometic was superior to the 1074. I could easily attribute 99.8% of his durability improvement to the studs. I also agree with the statement above, regarding use of the HG as a 'fuseable link' in the assembly. I also agree with the detonation factor, as well. So far, little has been shown/proven (to me), that the cometic, if indeed superior, is needed, in a non race environment, with less than 25# of boost, when studs are used, and detonation is kept in check. Also, if by chance that detonation, were to 'sneak in', total assembly destruction would not be the outcome, if that 'fuseable link' were in place. My 4¢ worth.

 

I totally agree, Felpro does make a great product. In fact they are still in my car now. I am only pushing 10 PSI of boost in a daily driver. I am building a new engine and raising the boost level to 12 to 14 with a T trim. At that level it is still very conservative to a lot of you F body guys running much more! You are absolutely correct about having a correct tune, that is imprerative for avoiding the death rattles. And to also mention having good parts is the other very important factor.

I too am debating whether to use the Cometics or the tried and true Felpros. Also one the same note, Felpro is coming out with their own MLS style headgasket for the LT1/4 engines as well. I seen it at SEMA last month. Plus I may add studs as well to the heads as I have not purchased the bolts for the cylinder heads yet. Being that the engine is in a Corvette, having studs won't make removing heads too much of a PITA for me.

 

I have run the Fel-Pro 1074 for several years @ 24lbs.of boost

 

Thats good to know that the 1074's can do the job really well with head studs, I think I'll do it in the future, too many commetic leaking stories don't settle well in my books, if they are so prone to leaking from the start I would hate to see what happens under high heat, they will most likely leak a bit as well, who knows unless these peeps are doing something really wrong.

 

Have zero experience with the cometic. Is it possible there is a specific protocol and or setup/prep procedure to follow with that gasket, to allow it to seal coolant effectively, without which, disappointments develop?

 

I heard u must be a FLAT FLAT FLAT surface (heads and deck) for cometics to work well, cuz its all metal...

 

Now if this testimonial doesn't blow the entire "Cometic Superiority Argument" out of the water, I don't know what the hell will!

 

The shop doing the machine work on my 396 uses cometics on all the eagle talon engines he builds for a large modifer of those cars. They are making 800 rwhp with a turbo 4.

What he did tell me untill they machined the surfaces mirror smooth there where issues with coolant leaks.

Once surface prep figured out cometics are the only gasket thay now use.

Boost levels are much higher than normally would be seen in a small block.

John

 

How many of you high boost guys running either the cometic or fel-pro have o-ringed heads?

 

O rings? Now that is another can of worms Unless you are running so much boost that it demands them, and unless you find a machine shop that is very well versed in the procedures of installing them I would try to avoid them at all costs. I have seen too many problems with O Ring'd engine blocks and heads. It is good to know that someone has ran the 1074 Felpros well beyond their design specs and that they are still living. I don't plan on running that kind of boost or for that matter anywhere near that level. So for me hearing tha Cometic has had issues with leaks I may as well stay with the tried and true 1074 that I know won't leak as long as the bolts are torqued correctly. Not to mention I would save a few bucks, for a nice steak dinner somewhere

 

I've been running the fel-pros at 24-25lbs of boost regularly (and have tried 28lbs a few times).

I dropped my engine out today to freshen it up, and the gaskets looked great when I pulled the heads off.

Using ARP studs, no o-rings.

 

'O' ringed block or heads.....hmmm. Effective? Sure! But, could it be an example of jumping a 'fuseable link'? Guess it has to do with one's priorities. Max seal, or a little 'surge' protection now and then.

 

As has been said, to avoid seepage when using Cometic gaskets you must have a very smooth, flat, and clean head and block deck surface. An MLS gasket like the Cometic is stronger than the Fel Pro, but people are using the Fel Pro on some God awful high boost motors! I'd say stick with the Fel Pro for all but the most extreme setups.

Rich