burta head

L

larry harding

Senior Member
i have ordered a high comp head from burtz. i have one question.... is there a preferred head gasket to use with these heads? the catalogs show different ones i don't know which is best to use.
 
I don’t have a Burtz head but I use the Best Gasket 509G Graphtite gaskets with good luck on my Snyder's high compression heads.
 
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The Best graphite gasket is great. but you'll have problems with it hitting the pistons or valves if you are running large (1.73") intakes or larger oversized pistons (greater then 0.080"). Trust me, I had it happen on my 30 closed cab pickup. First install the gasket was hitting the #4 intake valve and the second install the gasket was hitting the #1 piston. It's very hard to align this gasket perfectly because the stud holes are slightly oversized. If you have either of these issues, use the Fel-Pro Copper Head Gasket 7013 C.
 
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I plan to use the Best 509G on mine.

Similar subject: has anyone had issues with the Burtz heads out of the box needing decking to be flat? One of those "old truisms" that I've carried around for years is that castings need time to stabilize, and that you should cook a cylinder head up to 400 degrees or so to stress relieve it and then redeck it. Or is this more of an issue with aluminum than steel/iron?

This Burtz head is my first experience with new!
 
So far the heads check out flat no machining needed. The 509G gasket with copper coat seems to be the (Best) combination.
At one time the Snyders 6-1 heads needed to be surfaced before putting them on.
I don't know if that is the case anymore.
 
I got my 6:1 head in 2019 and I took it to the local auto machine shop to be checked and they said it was fine and were a little surprised.
 
Many many years ago castings were left out in a field for a year or more before they were machined. Modern cast iron is different and the pressures of getting parts out the door has changed things.
 
nkaminar said:
Many many years ago castings were left out in a field for a year or more before they were machined. Modern cast iron is different and the pressures of getting parts out the door has changed things.
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Well, I’d suspect that the time from fresh casting to final machining that Henry used was well less than a year. But thanks, Dodge, for that input. That’s the gasket combo I’ve had the “Best” success with and what I was planning to use.
 
where do you get the 509-g head gasket? snyders lists a graphite gasket number b-6051-xo is that the same? i'vr checkrd mikes, brattons, berts and snj but don't see that nimber.
 
larry harding said:
where do you get the 509-g head gasket? snyders lists a graphite gasket number b-6051-xo is that the same? i'vr checkrd mikes, brattons, berts and snj but don't see that nimber.
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https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/searchm.htm?type=merged&sterm=&searcht=509g

Snyder's states it is 509G in the description.
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larry harding said:
where do you get the 509-g head gasket? snyders lists a graphite gasket number b-6051-xo is that the same? i'vr checkrd mikes, brattons, berts and snj but don't see that nimber.
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I emailed Steve Becker at Bert’s about a year and an half ago. He confirmed that his gasket A-6051-BA is the Best 509. He told me I was the third person to ask that month and he should update the web description, but it doesn’t look like he has done so.
 
nkaminar said:
Many many years ago castings were left out in a field for a year or more before they were machined.
Click to expand...
My uncle was a VP at Ford and ran the Cleveland casting plant. He took my dad and I on a tour in 1964. Seeing batches of raw castings out in the weather I was under the impression that they were pouring them faster than the engine plant could machine and build them.
 
OT, but my Dad took me to a steel mill where he had worked before the war. hard to imagine them letting a 9 year old into a factory now!
 
ModelA29 said:
My uncle was a VP at Ford and ran the Cleveland casting plant. He took my dad and I on a tour in 1964. Seeing batches of raw castings out in the weather I was under the impression that they were pouring them faster than the engine plant could machine and build them.
Click to expand...

Just aging them for stabilization and stress relief.
 
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