I have been running 20 -22 psi for over 3 years with a Felpro composite and stock head bolts. I have a6 bolt motor though.

I've done a bit of research on this and it seems the Felpro composite gasket is good for 30+ psi of boost. iugrad's link seems to confirm this. I went ahead and bought a composite gasket for my head when I put it on. Composite gaskets are good if you haven't had your head resurfaced as it tends to fill in the imperfections on the deck.

There's no perfect head gasket. They are all designed to do the same thing, and they all work in the same way. Some people have run 30+ PSI on a HG with no problems and others with the same gasket have it blow under 20 PSI. Just take your time installing it, check everything in your build twice (at least), do everything right the first time and you shouldn't have any problems. If you plan on tuning yourself, remember that's where 95% of cars are make or break, so just be careful and have fun with it too.

BigTyla said:

I've done a bit of research on this and it seems the Felpro composite gasket is good for 30+ psi of boost..

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I second this with some arp studs

Properly installed ARP studs and a good tune and youll be fine.

Up the boost until it pops, go to auto zone and buy another 30 buck gasket and repeat .

in my builds, and anyone that asks i suggest the felpro gasket and arp studs. i have personally ran a 14b 16g and 18g on this setup up to 30psi with no overheating. friends that have done the same are using very similar setups as well. compression and leak down tests have been done to justify what ive done the past 10 years.

i have a felpro HG running 29PSI on a GT35R With ARP Headstuds and no problems yet.

People are afraid of the Felpros because they pop under a poor tune- detonation will wreck anything, but luckily, a composite gasket will fail before you blow the pistons out of it if youre lucky. I ran 25psi on my 18g on pump for years with no issues with a good tune. I just pulled the head to replace with a built head, and the gasket was absolutely perfect looking. Im putting it back together with a new felpro.

Chances are most of the complaints are from people who just slap it together and then say when it pops. If you don't have a clean mating surface and torque it down properly it doesn't matter how much you spend, it is going to fail.

slayer450 said:

Chances are most of the complaints are from people who just slap it together and then say when it pops. If you don't have a clean mating surface and torque it down properly it doesn't matter how much you spend, it is going to fail.

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couldn't have said it better myself. i love my felpro

your solid on 20 pounds, dont forget to torque in the right pattern.

I would install regular ARP studs as well to ensure that it will hold.

With the head off, now is a good time to replace your valve seals and don't forget new OEM timing parts.

Ive ran the oem composite for years the only time i ever poped one is when i also broke 4 Pistons from a bad tune. i have a good tune now and all has been fine and thats at 26 psi daily. Your tune will make or brake you.

You have practically made a new thread asking the same questions. And i have seen a few friends running 25psi using it, and they're their dd's.

I don't trust felpro gaskets farther than I can throw them. So my answer to the OP's question would be, no more than stock.

HaydenGSXdude said:

There's no perfect head gasket. They are all designed to do the same thing, and they all work in the same way. Some people have run 30+ PSI on a HG with no problems and others with the same gasket have it blow under 20 PSI. Just take your time installing it, check everything in your build twice (at least), do everything right the first time and you shouldn't have any problems. If you plan on tuning yourself, remember that's where 95% of cars are make or break, so just be careful and have fun with it too.

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This pretty much sums it up. I was running 28+ psi on c16 in the red 92 laser awd thats crashed up in my avatar pic, the engine was in the car when i bought it. The first time i took the head off the block at around 18 months after i bought the car, we found it to have a stock paper head gasket.
so properly installed without any overheating issues, even a factory junk paper one can hold a decent amount of boost, unless something isnt right when you install it any HG should hold 20 psi without any issues.