hey all. gotta 94 Z with bad head gasket, anyway i noticed their are 2 performance gaskets mr gasket sells. a .026'' bore and a .046'' bore. which one should i get??

 

just get a set of impala gasket from the dealer - compressed thickness is .028

 

why impala

 

The Impala uses a thinner compressed thickness head gasket that gives you higher compression. Higher compression yields more power (there are caveats, of course)

The numbers that you mentioned in your first post aren't bnore, they're compressed thickness. Stock, your aluminum headed LT1 used a head gasket with a thinckness of around .049"...

Some people are concerned that the Impala gasket, being used with cast iron heds ona cat iron block might not be compatible with the aluminum head, cast iron block versions. I've used this combination for a number of years without any adverse effects...

 

just bought a complete top end gasket set for 214 dollars from autozone. brand was felpro. they seem good

 

Stang - to do this right you should figure out your Dynamic Compression Ratio. There are different thicknesses to head gaskets out there and you should pick one that will compliment your CC 503 Cam.

I went with Mr Gasket but they put two in the same package... in shipping I guess they stuck together. When pulling them apart, the material on the gasket also separated... happened again when I returned them and got a replacement part. So, I opt no on Mr Gasket unless they improved their packaging.

I believe the Fel Pro is an 0.038 compressed thickness with a 4.0" bore. Have you done any head work? Or Stock Heads? Stock block deck height?

 

whole engine is STOCK

 

There's no need for him to do anything crazy like calculate DCR when changing a head gasket. I used the Fel-Pro HG's with my LE2 setup and no leaks. Just get some quality bolts like ARP.

 

THANK YOU for easing my mind spartan. i was scared these gaskets could be junk and i spent 214 on them..

 

leaks have nothing to do with it, although with his stock setup he should be fine with a stock gasket. but you on the other hand without a doubt should have taken the time to calculate and do the job right

 

.026" Mr. Gaskets are working fine on mine.

EDIT: Just saw you have already purchased Fel-Pros...

 

Ok, I'm all ears. Explain to me why a H/C swap on a stock short block needs to have the DCR calculated. I run a custom 222/230 112 LSA cam from Lloyd. He even recommended me the thinner Mr. Gasket HG's, but I went with the thicker Fel-Pro ones. It was a DD, and I wasn't look for max power.

 

Get yourself some copper spray gasket (i believe from mr. gasket). Its in a spray can and they sell it at all the autozones, advanced, etc. Spray the head gasket on both sides and let them hang or about twenty minutes and then install them. It adds that extra protection and has worked good or me or years.

 

While thinner gaskets increase compression, IMO the bigger benefit of thinner gaskets the tighter quench.

 

Like I said, I wasn't looking for max power, just a good DD. But he made it sound like I made a huge error not measuring my DCR. It's obviously not needed in my case, this isn't a race motor.