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Felpro Gaskets


jchalk1949

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I just put on one on about a month ago, all's well, so far. I didn't use any sealer, but I believe the secret is in the torque. Once finger tight, once to 30lbs, once to 50lbs and once to 70 lbs. Run the motor until its as hot as you will ever drive it. Shut it off, wait ten minutes while you find your tools, then once more around back up to 70, not past. This is what works for me, there are no guarantees on internet advice.

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Sure did. Permatex High Temperature Thread Sealant. I even called Felpro about what sealer they recommended for their head gasket, as the instructions that came with it said to use sealer. tech support said only Permatex Hytac Spray. There is just a trace of moisture on the manifold side of the engine, between the head and block.

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It just irks my a_ _ that the recomended sealant spray cost about $10.00 and it still leaks. The one I put on after the rebuild about a year ago was copper (Mccord 6213) and no sealer was used. I am tempted to reuse it. Head bolts were new and came with thread sealant on them. I also have a new old stock, Mccord 6085 gasket. Looks like the copper two sided gasket, but steel. Not sure if they were any good as everyone used cooper. Anyone tried these steel gaskets. If so, is there a trick to them?

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Can the head bolts stretch and then, when reused, bottom out before reaching full torque specs? Some motors require new head bolts if they are ever removed. I've heard over the years, several times, that any torqued bolt should never be reused. Don't know if that's true or not. Might be something to consider.

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I was reading some past posts about head gaskets and keeping a spare when traveling was mentioned. Also read some thoughts above about reusing a head gasket . . .

The head gasket I pulled off was 'good', in that I pulled it to work on the valves and not a bad head gasket. Can you clean up and re-use a head gasket, or save it for a back up? Does having a backup for these old gals tend to be a good idea? I think on one hand, this engine has been driven without head gasket problems since sometime in the late 50's. I would hope to get a few years out of the new one I'm about to put on. On the other hand, guess it's cheap insurance - could just tape it up in the trunk somewhere.

Cheers!

John

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John when I was a teen Dad and I got a cheap 52 plymouth for parts. Before parting it out we got it running. We pulled the head I believe 2 times to wack stuck valves and never replaced the gasket. We did spray it with silver engine paint when reinstalling it. It was driven around the rest of that summer and never had issues before we parted it. So I'd say yes your good used gasket would serve you well for an emergency repair.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Installed new copper double sided gasket from Vintage Powerwagons. No leaks. I'll save the warranty Felpro gasket for a back up. Weird thing is that it was a bit different from the other Felpro. Looks like metal mesh between the copper and paper side. I did replace the head bolts too. Hell maybe they were stretched. Anyway it is up and running.:)

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So, on torquing head bolts and factoring lubricant (Anit-Seize, thread sealer, etc.) . . .

Put thread seal on all of the bolts except the three that extend into the intake ports. With 65-70 Foot Pounds called for, I planned on a 70% torque of 49 (used 50), versus 70; set the three in the intake ports at 65. So, now I've seen reference to using 70% of the normal torque with lubricants vs. 'reducing torque by 15-20%' using lubricant, which would yield 56-60 Foot Pounds.

Is that 6-10 Foot Pounds going to make a difference here? Is re-torquing the more critical thing?

Cheers!

John

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