V8 cylinder head gasket question

Sorry - another query following on from the above - does the 1989 EFi have exhaust gaskets???

Graeme

On or around Sun, 9 Nov 2003 12:20:32 -0000, "Graeme" enlightened us thusly:

composite gaskets are not the same number as steel ones. I got 'em from Real Steel, who seem good at supplying V8 bits.

no exhaust gaskets on mine. Suck it and see, I reckon. If it won't seal without, put 'em in.

In message , Austin Shackles writes

Be aware that it it wasn't designed for composite you'll drop the compression slightly - though in this case it probably won't make that much difference to things

I'd slap a set on during reassembly to save the potential hassle later ... So, how lucky do you feel ...? :-)

Lucky? After all the stress from this car? Hmmm..........

Let's just say that I'm totally convinced that whichever head I pull off first will be the one that's _not_ busted!

Any reason to use composite head gaskets on a 3.5 then?

Graeme

In message , Graeme writes

Hmmm .... stresssssss....

That's a given ... :-)

They're supposed to be more reliable at sealing but I can't say I've had a major hassle with standard tin ones - most last 50,000 miles - but if the mating surfaces are less than perfect composites could be advantageous. They're also good at knocking the compression down on high-compression engines to reduce pinking with today's lower quality fuels ... 10.5:1 engines should run 5 star! Composites are a standard fitment for newer, larger capacity engines with *smaller* combustion chamber heads to run at stock compressions, afaik they were never specified for any 3.5l. As long as you have stock heads, tin should be ok.

On or around Sun, 9 Nov 2003 21:54:55 +0000, AndyG enlightened us thusly:

well... mine seems to seal OK without. There's no real reason why a machined face shouldn't make a reasonable (nearly) unpressurised joint with another machined face...

as to the compression: Real Steel bloke reckoned it might drop it as far as to 10:1 from 10.5, on mine. Unless you've got a low-comp engine and it's already lower than standard, I'd not worry. If the gasket's leaking, you've already got low compression anyway :-)

On or around Sun, 9 Nov 2003 22:10:07 -0000, "Graeme" enlightened us thusly:

easier to do both at once anyway - I did this just recently, the extra work to change the second head gasket once you've got all the valley stuff off is only about half an hour.

You could always compression-test it first...

they're supposed to be more reliable.

That's fine for you with your 10.5:1 engine, but I'm in the process of putting new gaskets onto my 9.35:1 engine that will eventually replace the 8.13:1 engine that's currently in my 110, and I'm not wanting to lose over half that extra compression by using composite gaskets, so I'm using tin ones and just nipping up the outside 4 bolts instead of torquing them up properly. General consensus seems to be that this fixes the leaky gasket problems.

Paul

Ordered tin ones from Paddocks today along with all the other assorted gaskets and seals and manifold nut lock tabs (guess what we are missing on the current setup) - should be here by the weekend so fun, fun, fun (not). Hopefully the car will last till then and who knows? It may actually be running by Monday morning!

Fingers crossed and many thanks to everybody for the advice.

Graeme