Which head gasket is best?

freak

freak

Senior Member
I just replaced my head gasket and now it leaks coolant up through a couple of the studs. The stud holes are not drilled into the block and are not cracked. I assume that coolant is leaking past the gasket into the stud area. The head was surfaced and the block checked flat but only with feeler gauges. The gasket in this area is very small, only around 1/4". I've heat cycled and re-torqued 4 times. The gasket I used was from Charlie Yapp and I thought it was going to be a good one. I'm inclined to try another gasket before I pull the block and have it surfaced as well! Which head gasket is considered the "best"?
 
we've always had good luck with FelPro copper gasket PN 7013. We use Permatex copper spray very liberally.
For studs that go into the water jacket we use Permatex sealer with PTFE (Teflon) it comes in a tube and is white.

check to be sure there hasn't been a small amount of the block metal that has been "pulled up" from the torque applied to the studs. Sometimes you end up with a sort of raised edge of metal around the stud holes which can cause trouble with getting the head/gasket combination to seat nicely against the block. There should be a small amount of chamfer around the top of the stud holes to guard against this

good luck

I am sure Fred will add something here.
 
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Freak,
I'm not hot for using additives, BUT, I'd try a jar of the old original Bars-Leaks & let it run for quite awhile!
The Dog asks, "Why do you call him FREAK"?---"Cuz I don't know his REAL name"---Bill W.

Tbird,
FRED WHO????
 
I used a ceramic sealer in one of my engines. The sealer that I used is made by Moroso. You run the engine for two hours, drain and the water jacket will be sealed and ceramic coated. Of course the cooling system needs to be clean before using ceramic coating or water glass. I personally never liked Bars stop leak.
 
I reread post #2 tbirdtbird makes a good point about pulled or raised areas around where the base of the strud meets the block. If I'm not wrong it seems that you said that you torqued the head to 65 ft. lbs. .I used grade 8 studs and torqued my last BF head to 65 ft lbs. I have thought since that this is really too tight. Snyder only uses grade 5 studs torqued to 55 ft. lbs. . When I got my first two BF heads I used grade five studs torqued to 55 ft. lbs. and they are still holding fine.
 
There is an excellent article by Murray Fahnestock in the Jan-Feb 1967 issue of The Restorer magazine. It goes into great detail how excessive torque can destroy engine performance and cause all sorts of problems. Proper torque given in that article is no more than 50 foot pounds. The article covers all aspects of the use of torque wrenches on a Model "A" and should be required reading...
 
If it's just a little seepage around a head nut or 2 why not just keep an eye on it and see if it stops on it's own? I've had that happen a couple times. It's like the coolant seeps through the gasket to the stud hole and over time (not long) the gasket swells or maybe a little rust forms between the head and the stud, anyway it stops. If it isn't gushing it won't hurt to wait and watch.
 
Larry Seemann said:
If it's just a little seepage around a head nut or 2 why not just keep an eye on it and see if it stops on it's own? I've had that happen a couple times. It's like the coolant seeps through the gasket to the stud hole and over time (not long) the gasket swells or maybe a little rust forms between the head and the stud, anyway it stops. If it isn't gushing it won't hurt to wait and watch.
Click to expand...

agree
 
Purdy Swoft said:
I reread post #2 tbirdtbird makes a good point about pulled or raised areas around where the base of the strud meets the block. If I'm not wrong it seems that you said that you torqued the head to 65 ft. lbs. .I used grade 8 studs and torqued my last BF head to 65 ft lbs. I have thought since that this is really too tight. Snyder only uses grade 5 studs torqued to 55 ft. lbs. . When I got my first two BF heads I used grade five studs torqued to 55 ft. lbs. and they are still holding fine.
Click to expand...


If I said 65 somewhere I was mistaken. I torqued to 55.
 
"Which studs have access to the water jacket? I thought the stud holes were all blind"
What difference does it make? You missed the point. If you have any that go thru you'll know what to do.
 


Hey Ed,


The Copper head gasket water jacket area of the gasket are not "Sealed"..So it will seep till it's torqued & maybe some stop leak used..Why is the gasket not sealed in this area ?. Never got a good answer to this question...I don't used the copper gasket for this reason..


I used the new silicone one from Snyder's & no problem.



Greg out West
 
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