[potentpontiac]

Who uses Flat out rubber coated copper head gaskets. Called yesterday to find out about using sealant around water ports.I didn't get a yes or no. Is it necessary to use sealer with the Rubber coated Gasket? Plus O-rings can go on deck of Aluminum block, or cylinder head.

[mgarblik]

I think I can answer this one for you. First, I love those gaskets. We ran them on the Grocery Getter nitrous engine, wet deck 1500 HP with good luck. Also on the Boss Bird nitro engine no coolant of course. On the nitro engine, 10 years, 1 set of head gaskets, reused on and off over 20 times. Zero leakage. No sealer. On the nitrous engines, wet deck, I put a light wipe of RTV just around the water holes on both sides of the gasket. A very, Very small amount. Seemed to seal water just fine. Reused the gaskets several times as needed. As far as where to put the wire, there are two trains of thought there. The "West coast", and "East Coast" method. It seems West coast racers generally prefer to place the wire in the block and the receiver groove in the head. The East coast racers place the wire in the head and receiver groove in the block. The West coast method likely began earlier when iron heads were more common IMO. We always placed the wire in the head, (aluminum), for simplicity of repair if needed. The wire needs to be captured, and if the head gets torn up, it can more easily be welded-up and re-cut in the aluminum head than dealing with a damaged groove in an iron block. I like .013-.015 wire protrusion with a .041" diameter wire. I use a .020-.025 deep receiver groove in the block, .060" wide. I think you will love this set-up for very high HP applications.

[potentpontiac]

Thanks for the Info. I had an Idea of what I thought would work. However I wasn't sure about sealant. Certainly can't hurt using a dab of sealer around water jackets. So, I think we will O-ring the heads.

[slowbird]

Originally Posted by potentpontiac

Thanks for the Info. I had an Idea of what I thought would work. However I wasn't sure about sealant. Certainly can't hurt using a dab of sealer around water jackets. So, I think we will O-ring the heads.

Don't you run ProPorts? They need to be o-ringed? How much compression you running?

[potentpontiac]

Approx, 14.8 to 1. Compression.

[potentpontiac]

Yes, I have pro Ports with small chambers.

[slowbird]

Originally Posted by potentpontiac

Approx, 14.8 to 1. Compression.

How many runs you make?
I had 16.2:1 with Cometic and after 100pass gaskets looked great. But i had HP heads (i do have the 421 cooling hole maybe that helps?)

[potentpontiac]

No Issues with Cometics. Just looking at other options. Not many passes on this 505. Had Knee surgery a while back. So haven't race in a couple of years. Just making some changes to current combo.