Yes, as many times as you need to.

 

hahahahahahahahahahaha

 

you are always going to have some random unexplained failures, but my theory has always been that it is usually caused by not warming up the engine fully before going heavy throttle. Aluminum absorbs heat much faster and expands at a different rate, thus a hot head on a cold block probably puts the gasket through some abuse.

Im no materials expert though.

also ive noticed that LT1 coolant (head) temps variate alot depending on the driving that is being done.

 

one thing i have seen many many people do is touch the head gasket with their bare hands. you have oils and other chemicals on your hands. the gaskets are supposed to be CLEAN when installed. also surface prep could have been less than par on the ones that blow. im going to agree with injuneer on this one. if dont correctly you shouldnt see problems out of your head gaskets.

 

Felpro 1074 gaskets and ARP head bolts is exactly what I used. Just make sure you take your time.

 

Not true!! I have always warmed my car up and and it sits in the garage with the hood up after a drive to cool it rather then having the hot air trapped in the engine bay.

Also a cheap fix that only last a couple years is cargo gasket sealer its the copper one. Used it three times and last about a year or two on each bottle.

 

Head Gaskets are like fuses, they aren't "wear" items, if they go there is a direct reason and by reading the failed head gasket, you can tell why. Most are due to over heating.

 

Plus, in the ideal world, after replacing the gaskets, then using ARP 134-3701 bolts, you'd torque them to spec, drive the car to full operating temp, let the car cool down completely, then RE-Torque them to spec. That, coupled with the aforementioned proper bleeding of the coolant system, should preclude the head gasket failures.
BTW - last time I replaced the heads, I had a devil of a time finding the torque spec's on the ARP 134-1307 bolts. Well, I'm putting on Canfields this weekend and, once again, I can't find the specs on the 'net. Grrr..... I had them linked on my laptop but I lost the hard drive and poof, that and dozens of other great links are gone.

 

Whew.. after searching dozens of sites and not getting a pertinent hit, I found the following info....
HEAD BOLT TORQUE:
All Aluminum heads should be torqued to 65-70 ft/lbs. This should
be done in the proper General Motors sequence in 10 ft/lbs increments beginning at 40 ft/lbs. Moly lube should be applied between fasteners, washers and areas around head bolt to prevent galling and improper torque values. All high compression, supercharged, turbocharged & nitrous motors should receive a retorque after the first run-in and complete cool down. Bolts containing a 12 point head are suggested in 3 areas on each head near the exhaust valve springs where it may be difficult to fit a standard 5/8 hex head socket. In case of head studs, use 12 point nuts. Airflow Research stocks complete and partial head bolt kits, studs and washers for your convenience. Proper ARP #'s for head bolt kit use #134-3701 and head stud kit use #234-4301. Sealer should be applied to all threaded areas that enter into the block water jacketing, Permatex is a good general purpose sealer.

Coolant:
It is important to maintain 50/50 mix of antifreeze in the cooling system to prevent corrosion of aluminum heads. Do not use tap water, use distilled water instead. Most supermarkets sell purified or distilled water. Check labeling to verify purified through deionization.


Head Fastener Re-Torque:
All high compression, supercharged, turbo and nitrous motors should receive a re-torque after the first running and complete cool-down. Be sure to back off the fastener about 1/8 of a turn to eliminate false readings from “break-away” torque. Always re-torque in the same general motors sequence you initially tightened them with.