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  #11  
Old 01-21-2018, 10:21 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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Copper head gaskets don't live very well with antifreeze and water mix. If your running just water, they do better. But for copper to really work, you need to machine an o-ring groove in the head for the wire ring and a receiver groove in the block. Then you are really married to the copper gaskets. I think the Cometic gaskets would be a better choice. Spraying them with Copper coat or similar sealer may help them seal. They require an extremely flat and smooth surface to seal 100%. Make absolutely sure your head bolts are not bottoming out. If using studs, this doesn't apply of course. If you pull the heads, I strongly recommend having them pressure tested vs magnetic particle inspection. We are dealing with 40-50 year old heads, and tiny leaks are very possible, especially if ported. I have some very effective sealer for cast iron, but is requires a clean casting inside and out and the heads removed. Kind of like hard block, you block off all the outlets and fill the casting with this stuff and let it sit a few hours, then pour out and let it dry. It's a ceramic sealer and works well. Bunch of work involved. Good luck with it.