I'm in the market for a block to start my procharged 383 build up and I was wondering if o ringing the block would be needed/helpful. I see that Golens 383 supercharger block is o ringed, but I did a search and found that people are having coolant leaking problems with an o ringed block using copper gaskets and that most people would rather blow head gaskets with a non o ringed block than have piston damage with an o ringed block.

Here is Golens 383 supercharger longblock.
http://www.golenengineservice.com/sp...ml/383_sc.html

I was planning on just getting a shortblock since I already have heads and an intake.
http://www.golenengineservice.com/sp...3compscsb.html

The blower will either be a D1SC or hopefully a F1A and my goal is 650+ rwhp. Car will be a mostly street driven.

 

on a street car...no.


there is a special coating from CV products you can use to spray on them hylomar or something but it takes care of most of the leaking problems.

For that h.p. level you don't need o-rings. There is a guy that used to be here that ran 8's with a 1074 fel-pro.

 

Can cometic or felpro gaskets be used with an o ringed block.

Why wouldn't you suggest using o rings on a street motor? What if the compression was dropped and was tuned very conservatively? Why would Golen sell their 383 supercharger block with o rings when they know they are not strictly strip motors?

The heads that I plan on running on this motor flow very well, so extreme boost levels will not be needed to achieve my desired rwhp.

 

Not needed except for VERY high boost.

Rich

 

Well, would it be OK to run if I got a good deal on an o ringed block? I know its overkill, but can it be ran on the street with no problems?

 

not going to bash anyone but...do some more homework. I would shop elsewhere also.

 

I know its not needed for my application, but other than the coolant leaking problem, which there are ways around, I don't see any reason why an o ringed block couldn't be run on the street with a conservative tune. And if I can get a new block for less than half the advertised price, why not?

 

then why ask?

How many people do you know with an o-ring block on the street? I don't know any

 

waves hand.. I did.. didn't have any issues. Don't think im going to do it again when i setup this motor until I do short block and heads.

 

I guess you could do it.

Rich

 

Can someone please explain as to why o-ringing a block and or cylinder head and with use of proper gasket not be suitable for the street?

Tend to seal the cylinder better than water passages?

 

Depends how you do it, but o-ringing can be done several ways.

Here's Moran Motorsports's use of hollow Aluminum rings with nitrogen gas fill. http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng..._bb/index.html

They mention here that the rings work great once the engine is up to temp and hot enough to expand the rings properly... implying that a cold engine (i.e. street engine) they wouldn't be such a great idea. Normal o-ringing however is what I've heard called "lock-wire" and tend to be cut from a spool so the ends overlap at an angle... not one solid ring. Likewise, lockwire o-rings tend to be used WITH gaskets (solid copper or felpro style ones that have "reciever grooves" for the wire).

Here's the turbo buick guys who use them a fair bit: http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/gen...ock-heads.html

They complain about still blowing out gaskets and really only needing them for solid-copper gaskets in high-temp applications.

Then there are the guys with 4-digit hp using plain gaskets who don't see the need for o-rings at all. http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/po...ing-block.html

In a V8 or similar displacement engine, with low to moderate boost levels it just doesn't seem like a big advantage or worth the effort. Now if you had to run 40psi or some rediculous nitrous shot in a 2 liter engine a gasket may not work that well.

 

And I've always heard, a head gasket on a boosted motor is analogous to a fuse in an electrical circuit. You want an inexpensive gasket to blow in an extreme situation, not your pistons. I'd posed this same question prior to building my turbo shortblock and the replies were the same as you're getting. Not needed until you get pretty far out there in boost levels. Just put the FelPro 1074's (That's what my car is wearing now )in there and enjoy your car and saved money.

 

Yep, you'll note that the Moran quad-turbo big block that used o-rings was putting out 25 to 35 psi of boost; 1500 to 2800 hp, and nearly 10,000 rpms... I'm not even gonna guess what kinda of in-cylinder pressures such a combination creates... just that it'd be safe to say no street driver would need this kinda of seal-effort.

 

Sounds to me like you already have your mind made up. Several people have stated that it's overkill. I definitely wouldn't do it on a street car but it's your car, your money, and most importantly, your experience. Let us know how that works out for you.