[jdw_poncho]

Ive gotten a couple different recommendations using copper coat on a copper gasket with a dry deck. Personally, I see no reason to use it if water is seperated from the deck.

What do you guys do?

[rodneybutler]

Oil control. With no sealant you will have oil streaks down the side of the block. If you don't want to use copper coat, put a bead of GM grey silicon along the top of the gasket. (edge of the valley area)

[Ray Cox]

and also vacuum loss needs to be sealed

[jdw_poncho]

Originally Posted by rodneybutler

Oil control. With no sealant you will have oil streaks down the side of the block. If you don't want to use copper coat, put a bead of GM grey silicon along the top of the gasket. (edge of the valley area)

Good point, thanks.

Im assuming the head is moving around under boost which allows oil to seep under the gasket?

[jdw_poncho]

Originally Posted by Ray Cox

and also vacuum loss needs to be sealed

Wouldnt the double o-rings seal off the vacuum and pressure?

[GTOGEORGE]

No......o-rings just seal the piston cylinders not the engine/crank case pressure.


GTO George

[RAIV-Z]

How many of you guys are running dry decked w/copper gaskets and what did your end up doing for O-rings? Single, double, figure-8, none, etc... Gasket thickness, O-ring wire thickness, O-ring material, vendor, gasket hardness, gasket thickness. Am I missing anything besides O-ring offset and gasket bore size vs. engine bore size?

[BruceWilkie]

Marty P runs with NO head gasket... dig around in the boost section a few months back to see the discussion. Basically a steel ring stepped into the bore. Cylinder pressure forces the ring to seal against the block and head and allows seal to be maintained as things expand and stretch. plug the water passages in block/head decks.

Marty claims he had zero failures over 20 years...

[Tom Vaught]

The Steel Ring still does not address the Crankcase Pressure/Vacuum issues on Marty's engines. You still need to seal up the Crankcase to keep from pushing oil out of the engine, Bruce. Rodney B's post gives a way to do that.

Tom Vaught

[GTOGEORGE]

My block is O-Ringed and I use a SCE copper gasket with a built in O-Ring it sits inside the O-Ring in the block.


GTO George

[taff2]

I've got dry deck/o ring grooves in head and block/copper gaskets-and the slight oil weepage that Rodney mentioned. I assume this is from drainback oil from the heads seeping through the gasket to block interface. When I next pull off the heads I'll coat the gaskets both sides.