Yeah, I am building a 5.0 right now, and had the same issue.
We got the best kit I could find, and still had to buy a 1 pc oil pan gasket, upper to lower gasket, decent valve cover gaskets, and decent intake to head gaskets. Other than those omissions (or less than desireable gaskets), the rest was top notch. The high dollar parts are the head gaskets, so I just picked the kit with the best head gaskets. The header gaskets were good too, so I let it go at that and bought the other stuff on the side. Sux..
We got the best kit I could find, and still had to buy a 1 pc oil pan gasket, upper to lower gasket, decent valve cover gaskets, and decent intake to head gaskets. Other than those omissions (or less than desireable gaskets), the rest was top notch. The high dollar parts are the head gaskets, so I just picked the kit with the best head gaskets. The header gaskets were good too, so I let it go at that and bought the other stuff on the side. Sux..
i pieced every gasket on my motor. i was able to get the gaskets i wanted for where i wanted.
with kits your stuck with a head gasket thickness you may not want. and i didnt want a felpro HG after i did some reading up on them they ran a 4 piece fire ring that can shift around. i ran a rol gasket which had the same .029" compressed thickeness but runs a 1 piece fire ring. rol gaskets were 22 bucks for the pair. the felpros i believe would have been near 80 bucks
with kits your stuck with a head gasket thickness you may not want. and i didnt want a felpro HG after i did some reading up on them they ran a 4 piece fire ring that can shift around. i ran a rol gasket which had the same .029" compressed thickeness but runs a 1 piece fire ring. rol gaskets were 22 bucks for the pair. the felpros i believe would have been near 80 bucks