Blown HG's again!

i said the uneven head surface oh about... 15 posts up.

those ARP's are probably torqued out...

I would definantly put in studs and use some COMETIC gaskets.

DP

Not to jack the thread but it seems that there are a lot of head gasket gurus in here. I am needing new head gaskets for my AFRs. I had some ROL on mine but for some reason I had a strange coolant leak and the heads were torqued to spec. What torque rating do you guys set your heads at. The gaskets are for the combo in my sig. Thanks

Jeremy

I torqued 85 lbs before and now on this pair I went to 95 lbs.

You need to make sure the surfaces are clean and perfect on the block and heads. Make sure the heads are level as well. I have been lucky that the last 3 changes the heads & block were straight still. I think thhe key to that is shutting off immediately.

So are the ratings in a haynes manuel underated you think for torquing the heads down. What damage can be caused with an overtorqued headgasket, aslong as all the bolts were torqued exactly the same.

Jeremy

To be honest I don't know what bad could happen but it's worth a try once. I have popped HG's from detonation 3 times in the last 3 months. I think that they are not underrated but I'm sure OEM specs didn't anticipate me adding 12 psi to the block either so I made my own rating for my car.

True, boost is not so friendly to stock specs. So what gaskets do you recommend for a h.c.i car like mine.

Jeremy

ROL and Cometic seem to be the best out there for boosted cars. I am running OEM spec HG's.

Jeremy, if I'm not mistaken AFR recommends different torque specs for the top and bottom head bolts. I could be wrong but check with them to make sure. Also, check with the HG manufacture and see what they say, if you over torque it that may be bad too as it could over compress the gasket and deform it. I don't know if it will do this, but I can see how it would.

True, good point sort of like the old cork valve gasket squeeze mess.
Yeah kinda do as I say and not as I do. I always go against the grain with my car and try all kinds of exp'mntl stuff on it. I left off one of the ps bracket bolts (one under the pulley) so the next time I have to do a HG install I won't have to pull the ps pulley off again (major PITA). I have had no adverse effects from it , but just an idea.

Get the injectors flow tested before you run it again. How many cyl's are blowing out each time?

I know the feeling man