What to seal head gaskets with?

3spd on floor · Mar 11, 2006

hey guys

i'm puttin together a 302 with TFS TW heads and i cant figure out what to use and where to put the sealer on the gaskets.

i've got an older book that recommends painting the gaskets with a high temp aluminum paint for the sealer. anyone done this?

i've also heard that you're just supposed to put sealer around the water passages. if so what kind of sealer should i use?

thanks a ton

-TJ

latamud · Mar 12, 2006

Put sealer around the water ports on the intake gaskets. The heas gaskets, torque them down to specs and tthey will seal. I've heard the paint idea before. I think that gasket technology has resolved needed to do that. Plus, imagine the mess it would leave behind next time you swap head gaskets.

Red5oh · Mar 12, 2006

It all depends on the gaskets... if you have the TW ones, or the newer felpro with the embossed sections around the water passages, just put them on and torque them down. No problem. Post up the part number of the gasket.

5.0ina66 · Mar 12, 2006

Most gaskets don't need sealer anymore...IIRC, they got rid of that a long time ago and went to gaskets with the RTV built in. The paint is a trick for the old, and I mean old steel gaskets like Ford used.

D.Hearne · Mar 12, 2006

My advice os to NOT use the Felpro "print-o-seal" type gaskets with aluminum heads. Use the regular late model expanded graphite type and liberally spray them with Copper-Kote. I used the Print-O-Seals with aluminum heads and first time the engine overheated, it blew a gasket. With the expanded graphites and copper kote, an occasional trip to 250+ degrees won't hurt em.

Red5oh · Mar 12, 2006

But, the copper kote defeats the purpose of the expanded graphite... you just need to install them dry and clean. Have you tore down a motor with the coating? The gasket material does not stick to the heads or the block.

When installed dry, the material is adhered to the head/block and needs to be scraped off.

3spd on floor · Mar 12, 2006

well i've already got the fel-pro printoseal gaskets because thats what trickflow reccomended for the heads. as for them blowing through when it overheated, this is the first i've heard of this problem.

so just plop 'em on and torque 'em down?

thanks again guys

D.Hearne · Mar 12, 2006

Red5oh said:
But, the copper kote defeats the purpose of the expanded graphite... you just need to install them dry and clean. Have you tore down a motor with the coating? The gasket material does not stick to the heads or the block.

When installed dry, the material is adhered to the head/block and needs to be scraped off.

I used the copper kote as insurance. So far it's worked. And since the graphite sticks to the b-head surfaces, I'd rather not have to use a scraper on my aluminum heads.

D.Hearne · Mar 12, 2006

3spd on floor said:
well i've already got the fel-pro printoseal gaskets because thats what trickflow reccomended for the heads. as for them blowing through when it overheated, this is the first i've heard of this problem.

so just plop 'em on and torque 'em down?

thanks again guys

Good luck with em. There's lots of not so nice things written about all the print-o-seal felpro stuff over on the FE forum on Network54. For heads? Permatorque Blue's or the Graphite's for me.

66bluepony · Mar 12, 2006

Use the aluminum paint on the cast iron, it helps fill in the porius in the casting, making a more dense surface.

Red5oh · Mar 12, 2006

D.Hearne said:
I used the copper kote as insurance. So far it's worked. And since the graphite sticks to the b-head surfaces, I'd rather not have to use a scraper on my aluminum heads.

Maybe scraper is a wrong term... I use a single edged razor blade to lightly remove the material that was left over... no scraping involved. Sorry for the confusion.

You can even see where the material has 'bonded' with the head and you cannot remove it.

I am wondering if the bolt pattern is different for the FE blocks (I am NOT an FE expert at all) and that is why the gaskets fail. As for the 302's... I have been though several styles in forced induction and have found the expanded graphite to be the best.

D.Hearne · Mar 12, 2006

Red5oh said:
Maybe scraper is a wrong term... I use a single edged razor blade to lightly remove the material that was left over... no scraping involved. Sorry for the confusion.

You can even see where the material has 'bonded' with the head and you cannot remove it.

I am wondering if the bolt pattern is different for the FE blocks (I am NOT an FE expert at all) and that is why the gaskets fail. As for the 302's... I have been though several styles in forced induction and have found the expanded graphite to be the best.

I've seen the places where the graphite seems to have bonded to the block/heads, all the more reason to spray em first. FE's also use 4 bolts per cylinder, although the pattern is larger. Most of the FE failures had to do with the POS ( Print-O-Seal) intake gaskets. I don't think any one there uses them on head gaskets, not even sure Felpro makes them for FE's. Ford used .020 thick steel shims for them, those will also fail when overheated, mine did ( but after 34 years) But the factory didn't use a sealer on the steel shims either.

headgrinder · Mar 12, 2006

the main reason for graphite is to allow head/block to expand at different rates(graphite is slippery) if you glue them it will tend to rip/tear gasket and cause ealier falure.

D.Hearne · Mar 12, 2006

headgrinder said:
the main reason for graphite is to allow head/block to expand at different rates(graphite is slippery) if you glue them it will tend to rip/tear gasket and cause ealier falure.

Copper Kote isn't a glue, just a flexible sealer.

65ShelbyClone · Mar 13, 2006

3spd on floor said:
i'm puttin together a 302 with TFS TW heads and i cant figure out what to use and where to put the sealer on the gaskets.

Thats because you're not supposed to put sealer on the head gaskets. You can, but 99 out of 100 times it isn't needed as long as the head and block are flat. If they aren't, you have other problems. I install them dry and have yet to see a factory gasket that wasn't installed the same way.

Intake gaskets are another story.

John Z · Mar 13, 2006

And remember, all head gaskets must be installed with the front stamp on the gasket toward the front of the engine. Most of the time, this means one gasket will look "upside down" compared to the other gasket. That's just the way it is, front means front! Otherwise, you will block a water passage.

What to seal head gaskets with?

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