Head Gasket opinion (non Z)

[Z Kid]

Well my run of great luck continues . Friday night, my car decides to take a dump, and a big one at that, with no symptoms at all, the cabin fills with oil (lots of holes in the bulkhead). Well it turns out the sumps full of ice coffee and the radiator is sludgy, and there is next to no compression (first time the starter motor has ever turned over the engine convincingly).

Now for the good news, the head is straight, and the block is not warped either, bit of leakage around the valvles but not really enough to bother about relapping them in at this stage.

So what are your opinions, for a non performance motor, is the Copper head gasket or the fibre gasket better?

This stupid car is slowing down the progress on the Z (now its Z related)

[Z Kid]

and here is a picture of the head gasket. Doesnt appear to be burning evenly in all four cylinders

[Ed]

I hate to say this but did you notice the dark spots between the cylinders? This indicates that there was a leak between the cylinders. That head needs to be resurfaced until the entire surface is clean.

When it comes to gaskets you will get a bunch of different opinions but I say get one that has the metal rings around the cylinder holes. Felpro makes pretty good gaskets.

[Z Kid]

There is no doubt that there was leakage between the cylinders, and ultimately the oil and water galleries. The thing is that the head is not warped, not even slightly. I think it comes down to the installation of it. The head gasket was put on with oil, as per instruction manual, and should have probably been done with a sealant as well. Also when i retorqued, I didnt loosen first. All that black build up came off with a piece of sanpaper on glass, and a straightedge confirms the trueness of the block. I guess I need to get it running richer to cool down the head temps and go from there.

[justaZcarguy]

Ok, here we go...

I am running a '74 Z with 11:1 compression and I thought long and hard about the approx $45 gasket compared to the much-less-priced non stock head gasket. I went with the Fel-Pro and did the old trick of coating both sides with a high pigment alumimum paint and then retorqued the head...

Everything seems fine (knock on wood:stupid: )

So go figure, I am currently doing the head on my '71 and I am going that same way...

I guess it's a matter of opinion and somewhat luck.

~Brian

[ZmeFly]

I wouldnt go with a standard Fel Pro head gasket with 11:1 motor thats for sure.

The choice is up to you, if the car isnt going to be anything special, Id go with your standard gasket. If its going to be a high comp or it continually blows HG's then you might need the copper HG

[justaZcarguy]

I think that I am lucky, but, I figured that I'd try the paint trick, and see waht happens, the head is an easy pull and I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. Also, the Stocker head gasket was about a week out and I had the Fel-Blow at my disposal...

A bit impatient you could say. So far, no regrets and it's been in the engine for about 600 miles so go figure...

However, Zmefly is correct, use a stock or like head gasket, I usually swear by them and will spend the extra $.

Have a safe new year!!!

~Brian