Head Gasket Help

97stanger · Jul 7, 2010

I'm in the market for head gaskets for my motor. My pistons are 18cc which will yield 9.5:1. I want to stay at this compression so the stock thickness. my block is a 97 GT block bored .20 over with PI heads. Do you guys all recommend Felpro? where would i order these? any help appreciated!

reivaxtorres · Jul 7, 2010

how cheap can you get the felpro gaskets for? personally i like the Ford OE ones better, the blue film that the felpro gaskets have deteriorates once the car starts circulating coolant. im sure it wont hurt the engine, just never liked that about those gaskets. out here, they cost about $50 each at autozone, so $100 for both, or get the FRPP headswap kit for $115 at either Summit or Jegs. the kit comes with new OE exhaust manifold gaskets, new head gaskets, new head bolts, and a new dip stick. im assuming you have the ARP head studs, so just sell the headbolts in the kit and recoup some of your money, and then you still have the exhaust manifold gaskets and dipstick tube you can use.

oh, and for your block being .20 over, it doesnt matter with the OE or any OE style/spec gasket, as they are usually oversized anyways.

and PI vs NPI gaskets, there is no difference.

97stanger · Jul 7, 2010

the only thing i was thinking is that i will be pushing 15+psi through a T trim, would a stock OEM gasket really be able to handle that?? The cheapest I have found the pair of Felpro gaskets for is $170 for the pair.

duff daddy · Jul 7, 2010

Stock MLS gaskets are the best hands down!

reivaxtorres · Jul 7, 2010

blown97stanger said:
the only thing i was thinking is that i will be pushing 15+psi through a T trim, would a stock OEM gasket really be able to handle that?? The cheapest I have found the pair of Felpro gaskets for is $170 for the pair.

$170? damn. go to autozone and look up part numbers: 9792PT-2 (left side) and 9790PT-2 (right side). thats just for the gaskets, if you want the entire gasket set (all gaskets for the upper part of the engine.....fyi these gaskets are reusable for the most part), then yeah, its gonna run you around $170.

and i dont think you should have an issue running 15 PSI on the stock gaskets, might be pushing it with that compression. i was going to say that ive seen cobras/lightnings running similar boost with the stock gaskets, but they start off with 8.5:1 compression, and the cobra and lightning use the same gaskets as the regular GTs

i say start looking at the Cometic gaskets. they are the same thickness as the stock ones, or you can get them thicker to lower the compression a bit too.

97stanger · Jul 7, 2010

the only thing is i do not want to lower compression. i want to stay at 9.5:1. so you guys think that stock gaskets would be fine? i just find that hard to believe. I dont want to cheap out $50 on head gaskets when i am dropping 10k into this motor...ya know?

reivaxtorres · Jul 7, 2010

blown97stanger said:
the only thing is i do not want to lower compression. i want to stay at 9.5:1. so you guys think that stock gaskets would be fine? i just find that hard to believe. I dont want to cheap out $50 on head gaskets when i am dropping 10k into this motor...ya know?

i think you'll be fine. honestly, ive only heard of one cobra guy pushing high hp numbers have a gasket fail. at the same time, i personally know of about 4-6 people pushing 600+rwhp on the stock gaskets, and have heard of countless other doing the same.

DropTopPony · Jul 8, 2010

The Ford MLS Gaskets are really good but expensive. From what Randy S told me the set that comes in the $115 Ford kit is the old style and not nearly as good as what you will get at the Ford Parts Dept for more $$$$.

I buy my FelPro's on ebay and usually get them for just under $100 with shipping.

reivaxtorres · Jul 8, 2010

DropTopPony said:
The Ford MLS Gaskets are really good but expensive. From what Randy S told me the set that comes in the $115 Ford kit is the old style and not nearly as good as what you will get at the Ford Parts Dept for more $$$$.

I buy my FelPro's on ebay and usually get them for just under $100 with shipping.

haha, thats funny, he told me the same thing but said that they are both pretty much identical when it comes to intergity. iirc, the main difference was the coolant passages were a different size, slightly bigger diameter on the newest version that Ford sells (not motorcraft). i figured at the $200+ per gasket that ford wanted, i could do with smaller coolant ports.

MustangChris · Jul 8, 2010

i have a set of head gaskets for sale.

duff daddy · Jul 8, 2010

ford head gaskets will fit up to a .040 over bore, also the felpros are going though ALOT of trouble between the old black style and the New blue style. bewarned