speedyquest Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Heya guys, I am to a point where I will be buying a new headgasket for my motor. There is nothing wrong with the motor, I am just tearing the long block down to do a check over of the motor before it gets put together with quite a few upgrades and I figured theres no reason not to double check everything before I do that. My question is this, should I buy a specific head gasket? Is buying an ajusa or other metal headgasket worth the extra cost in higher boost builds? A quick search on ebay found this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEP-Steel-Shim-Head-Gasket-G54B-Starion-Dodge-Conquest-Turbo-2-6L-/310363632976?hash=item48431d3550&vxp=mtr Basically I've always just ran the Fel-Pro one that everyone suggests and have had no problems but since I'm already here I figure I may as well do some research and get some suggestions on what others might suggest for different applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr-starion Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Doesnt hurt to spend the extra few on the ajusa. I run 20psi on that head gasket with no failures. Added insurance if you decide to boost it up. Make sure your deck and head are straight. Thats the part that matters the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 (edited) I'm guessing that the flatness of the block and head will matter much more using a metal head gasket. If so I may just put another Fel-Pro on there for the time being simply because I know I am not at a point where I'm willing to pull the block and or head to be decked if it needs it. Yea I know that isn't a good mindset to have necessarily but I'm being honest with myself and you guys lol. And just so we are on the same page I'm not having an issue with compression at all. I'm just going to have the motor down to a long block while I'm upgrading it and I figure the cost of a headgasket is worth looking over the valves and condition of everything while I'm at that stage. Edited July 28, 2015 by speedyquest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markhansenconquest Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 THE HEAD AND BLOCK MUST BE FLAT !! TO USE THE METAL GASKET...TAKE A INDIA STONE (NOT FROM INDIA OR CHINA) AND STONE YOUR BLOCK BY HAND AND LOOK AND SEE ALL THE RAISED SURFACES BY THE BOLT HOLES!!!.... ( NORTON MAKES A GOOD INDIA STONE) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionbull Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 also do a re-torque. if you do not retorque it does not matter what gasket you get.Drive the car around for a week with no boosting. then go back and re-torque.How do i do it?I do not loosen, i just tighten to the spec i need in the order specified as per the FSMI use arp studs with the arp lube and i use it liberally. still plenty there after a week maybe 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Yep my car already has ARP head studs and I've already ordered the assembly lube in preparation of doing this job. I appreciate the reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I feel the ajusa is best. any properly machined head and block with proper assembly the felpro should be fine. I had the ajusa on my 88 starion and removed the head.Cleaned the surface of head and block and reused the ajusaGasket. Drove 30,000 miles with the used ajusa. No problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 What about the ajusa do you feel is better than other head gaskets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G54Bstore Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 ive always used the felpro pt9116 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 For the time being I ordered a Fel-Pro gasket, at this point I don't see myself gaining any real benefit by spending an extra $50+ bucks on the gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionbull Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I use the graphite fel-pro which is the 9116. currently at 400+whpThe next build i do, i will use the ajusa. going for 600whp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucw458 Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I've never re-torqued any headgasket in any engine I've built. Haven't blown a headgasket yet from not re-torquing. I'm using the felpro 8770 but my block is o-ringed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 That is the exact head gasket I got ucw. My setup isn't O-ringed but I guess I'm curious if re-torquing is necessary. Should I follow the headgasket, fsm, or arp head studs recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucw458 Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 When using ARP bolts use their recommended lube and torque specs. Don't torque them per FSM specs or they will loosen up. I have ARP bolts but didn't use them in my build. I used stock bolts torqued to 90 ft lbs. Put some miles on it in TBI form but not too many in MPI form. Haven't blown a gasket yet but the plan is to run 30+ psi so I'll see what happens when I get to that point. The 8770 is a good gasket but the 9116 is better. It has a fire ring built into it. In theory it should hold up to more abuse. But for an o-ringed block the 8770 is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Phil Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 http://www.sqperformance.com/forum/index.php?topic=233.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted July 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Thanks for the comparison information Phil, and yep don't worry I'm aware of what to torque the arp studs to and in what order etc. I was only referring to whether to retorque them after a heat cycle or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntercooledFlatty Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 good stuff Funk Lab Man 9116 and NJV FTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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