Head Gasket which one to choose

[Fabian972]

Okay so I have to replace my head gasket on my 97 gst i will be going with the arp head studs and am looking at the hks gasket but don't know which thickness to go with any suggestion and please explain the logic behind your choice my Damn Sexy Machine needs help

 

[brute]

HKS will be a waste of money. Either get an OEM one or a Cometic. Cometic will handle all of your high-boosting needs. And they're only like $90

 

[Fabian972]

HKS will be a waste of money. Either get an OEM one or a Cometic. Cometic will handle all of your high-boosting needs. And they're only like $90

Are you currently using the Cometic and how many psi are you at ?

 

[brute]

Personally, I don't have a cometic. I know they are proven and I know they are worth the money. HKS stuff is usually just a generic part with their name on it. Take for example, their turbos. The turbos they sell for $2500 are just Garrett turbos with an HKS name on them. Garrett sells the exact turbo for $1200 or less.

Maybe someone that actually has a Cometic could chime in.

 

[Fabian972]

well i thanks for the advise bro...i need to save as much as possible because the labor is gonna kill me

 

[TheRealist]

Felpro is a decent brand, thats what ill be getting for my 97 GST

 

[Liquidus]

Whatever you get, just make sure it's a metal HG.

 

[Fabian972]

Felpro is a decent brand, thats what ill be getting for my 97 GST

What is the price sticker on that gasket ? Can it hold high psi roughly 20+ and i am looking for 365hp to 400 hp "Daily Driver"

 

[vintagemuscle]

i would recommend the stock gasket. without an absolutely flat and smooth deck surface the metal hg's have been known to not seal well and push coolant. i personally have never used one but unless you pull the engine and have it resurfaced than i would stick with oem. with the stock hg and arp's you will still be able to run plenty of boost. just my opinion.

 

[Fabian972]

Whatever you get, just make sure it's a metal HG.

Metal huh the HKS one i was looking at is like 4 layered metal but all so costs 260.00 something i am looking for good quality resonable price to me 260.00 is okay but if i can find a lower price even better.

 

[Fabian972]

i would recommend the stock gasket. without an absolutely flat and smooth deck surface the metal hg's have been known to not seal well and push coolant. i personally have never used one but unless you pull the engine and have it resurfaced than i would stick with oem. with the stock hg and arp's you will still be able to run plenty of boost. just my opinion.

Thanks for the info bro really ...but i need some facts because i don't want to have to go through all this again later... money for me is an object you know what i mean.

 

[Liquidus]

If you're not going to get the surfaces decked, I would stick with the OEM HG as well. But I would definately use ARP headstuds.

The thicker the HG the lower the compression.

 

[Fabian972]

If you're not going to get the surfaces decked, I would stick with the OEM HG as well. But I would definately use ARP headstuds.

The thicker the HG the lower the compression.

Good looking out bro but how much abuse can the stock head gasket take ?

 

[ivanr4g63]

Well here we go...

First if you plan to run high boost ARP HEAD STUDS are a must...! seriously.

Metal head gaskets are a royal pain to get them to seal right... believe me you don't want to go thru that... no kidding, though they will hold pretty much all the boost your turbo can throw at them, but unless your block is decked, milled head and maybe even O-ringed you don't want a Metal head gasket.

Mitsu OEM, Cometic non-metal, Fel-Pro are good gaskets when combined with ARP studs, I personally know of several tuners running 24+ psi on these gaskets with no leaks at all... Actually headgaskets blow from detonation, high coolant temperature and such rather than high boost, search around and you'll find that most people blow pistons at high boost than headgaskets when properly sealed.

Check out this thread and you can see form other tuners running high boost on an OEM gasket it has good info
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191468&highlight=headgasket

Hopefully this will help you a bit.

 

[Trucloner11]

Kinda of topic but i blew my valve cover gasket on my 98 gs..my dad told me to fix it but i just say screw that buy me a gsx son!

 

[Fabian972]

Well here we go...

First if you plan to run high boost ARP HEAD STUDS are a must...! seriously.

Metal head gaskets are a royal pain to get them to seal right... believe me you don't want to go thru that... no kidding, though they will hold pretty much all the boost your turbo can throw at them, but unless your block is decked, milled head and maybe even O-ringed you don't want a Metal head gasket.

Mitsu OEM, Cometic non-metal, Fel-Pro are good gaskets when combined with ARP studs, I personally know of several tuners running 24+ psi on these gaskets with no leaks at all... Actually headgaskets blow from detonation, high coolant temperature and such rather than high boost, search around and you'll find that most people blow pistons at high boost than headgaskets when properly sealed.

Check out this thread and you can see form other tuners running high boost on an OEM gasket it has good info
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191468&highlight=headgasket

Hopefully this will help you a bit.

Thank you bro that is excatly what i needed to know you hit the nail on the head bro everyone else thank you as well

 

[dsm-onster]

Metal shmetal!

18G, 30 psi, FP2Xs, 24 degrees timing advance on a lean tune w/ water injection. Rather high cylinder pressures. . .

This was with an OEM headgasket and arp head studs. Torqued to the proper ft.lbs., in the proper sequence, proper stages, AND retorqued after proper heat cycling.

Metal is great. You'll handle 40 psi great . Who the heck is going there in this thread?