Okay, if all goes well in about a month I'll be adding a set of ported and polished cylinder heads to my '97 LT1 Camaro Z, (in addition to the mods already shown below in my signiture). I'm now in the process of shopping for NEW cylinder head gaskets for this upcoming swap, and I've "discovered" that appartenly Mr. Gasket now sells a P/N 5716 Ultra Seal head gasket for the LT1 motor that is supposed to have a .026" compressed thickness.

My questions are:

1) First off, can someone CONFIRM that Mr. Gasket P/N 5716 is indeed the CORRECT part number for the .026" compressed thickness LT1 aluminum head gaskets?

2) Have any of YOU out there used these gaskets for a head swap? Any problems and/or concerns you've had with these gaskets?

3) And finally, where's a good place to get a good price on a set of these? If you've bought a set, what did you PAY for them, and where did you order them from?

Obviously I'm looking at these particular gaskets because my car will STAY naturally asperated, and I want to bump up the static compression ratio along with doing this P&P head swap. Along these lines are there any OTHER head gaskets out there with a compressed thickness LESS than .026" that we can use on LT1's?

Thanks in advance for ALL replies!

 

Yes that is the correct part #. I was going to use these but decided to use a more popular and proven gasket (the .029 gm impy) instead since hardly anyone runs the mr. gasket one. You can get the mr. gasket one from summit i believe.

 

Ken, thanks for the confirm on that Mr. Gasket part number. Along these same lines, I assume that the GM part number for the Impala .029" head gaskets you used on your car was 12553160, correct? I've looked at using the Impy head gaskets, but because they were designed for the IRON headed Impala SS, I've heard that they can cause "brineling" of the aluminum heads when used on the F Body LT1's. Any thoughts on this?

So, has ANYONE out there used these new(?) Mr. Gasket P/N 5716 Ultra Seal .026" head gaskets on their LT1 F Bodies???

Again, TIA for all replies.

 

The mr gasket gasket is a very nice peice, I have had both the Impy and the MG gasket and the MG gasket seems to be built out of sturdier stuff.

 

Yes that is the correct # for the impy gaskets. And when i asked a few experienced engine builders about brineling they said not to worry about it, it will only make a better seal. These guys know a lot more than i do so i'll go off of what they tell me.

 

Ken, thanks AGAIN for confirming the Impy P/N, and Perry thanks also for your comment on the "quality" of the Mr. Gasket piece. I'm really leaning now toward going with the Mr. Gasket #5716's.

Before I march off to the parts store and order these for my car, does anyone else out there have anything BAD to say about these head gaskets?

Again TIA for all replies.

 

Is it possible to take a standard sbc .015 steel shim head gasket and punch/drill the extra cooling holes at the ends to match up with the LT1?