Gasket blew at track
 

Welp, it was the 6th pass for the night in the wifes GT, no traction whatsoever, so rolling out and granny shifting it hit 13.50 at 106.5, I figure with that high of a trap speed, the car is capable of running way better ET's with traction. Anyway, the head gasket let go and we towed her home. I am changing them out this weekend and decided to put my Trickflow twisted wedges on her car since mine is still at the shop. Any suggestions on the best head gasket for the blower app and aluminum heads. Any comments and or suggestions for the head swap appreciated. Thanks:rolleyes:

Fel Pro 8548-PT2

I just got off the phone with Trickflow and they recommended the Felpro 1011-1. Wonder what the difference is...

Thats the gaskets I use. Canfield reccomended them to me also.

The Fel Pro 8548-PT2 is a graphite head gasket. Summit's web site describes them as only a stock replacement gasket, but don't believe it. I have run them for many years with my blower car. I also know many other supercharger guys who run them. Rick Anderson of AFM was the first guy to recommend them to me. They hold up fine to my 20+ psi of boost, running 9's. EFI Renegade racers Bob Kurgan and Mark Spain also recommended them to me when I got my first blower. Although I believe those two guys are now running O-rings w/ copper gaskets.

I know of at least two blower guys who have had trouble with the 1011-1's. They run the 8548-PT2's now.

You're going to get many different opinions on this subject. The above is just my personal experience and opinion. FWIW, if something goes wrong and I experience detonation, I'd much rather have the head gasket blow like a fuse. Otherwise... could hurt a piston, rings, or head! Gaskets are cheap, those other parts listed aren't!

I'll 2nd the 8548's.

I want to also add that I have indeed blown a number of 8548 head gaskets over the years... it's just part of the game. But every single time it was because of detonation (too aggressive on the tune). I've never had a head gasket mysteriously blow and suspected that it was the head lifting or it was the quality of the gasket. And I've never damaged a head, piston, or ring. Just some more food for thought ;)

good point, which brings another Q.... Do you think the mix was too lean causing the head gasket to blow? Too rich? I was leaning towards the reason just being the weak stock gaskets were not made for boost. Maybe I should get this thing professionally tuned when I get it all together. How much do yall think that would run in price?

What do your spark plugs look like? Do they show a lean condition (white)? Are the insulators blistered?

How much boost? What size injectors? FMU ratio? Base fuel pressure? Initial timing? How much timing retard at max boost? Bigger intank fuel pump? External pusher pump (like a T-Rex)?

Which cylinder blew?

all good questions, I will be able to tell you when I get it apart, starting tonight and finishing tomorrow morning. The injectors are 24lbers, the FMU was recalibrated for those 24lbers with the kit from Vortech. We have the 255lph external pump which replaced the 155lph T-rex. 9 psi is what we were seeing on the previous 5 passes. I've heard lots of talk about ditching the FMU but Vortech said don't, so I was hesistant on the idea. I will let you know which cylinder and how the plugs looked tonight.

Looks like you have a big enough pump and injectors with a FMU and that level of boost. From my experience the Vortech FMU calibration for 24# injectors is on the rich side (safe). So barring a failed pump or injector, I'm going to guess it was timing related.

#7?

Ok, the plugs all looked normal and the cylnders that were blown were #2 and #3, it must have let go between them. One thing I noticed is that the top head bolts were warped, I replaced the bolts with ARP bolts on the TW heads. The car did over heat about 3 months ago, but we shut it down as soon as it showed in the hot, maybe it warped it a little and now it let go at the track?

Got the heads on and valves adjusted, the stock valve covers on the 95 do not fit over the Crane 1.6's, so I used my valve covers off the 88, they fit great. Just a little FYI. Should be firing it up tonight, just need to connect the blower hose and throttle body and belts and were done. Wish me luck.

OMG, it ran sooooooo good and smooth, even the idle surge went away, man after a little tuning it came alive.

Here is the new deal, went to hometown this past weekend, drunk stepdad, took keys for joke and decided to do a burnout without my concent, long story short, he bounced off the rev limiter a little too long and collapsed some lifters and possibly bent some valves. All plugs are black with smut and gas and it runs like sh*t now. Pulling it apart tonight to test the valves.

Question? Do you think the over revving caused it ultimately or could I possibly have an issue with too long of pushrods, they are custom length with the heads and roller rockers.

IT'S RUNNING, smooth and faster than ever, time to update the signature mods! A little tuning and she came alive. Lookout!

Last year my Trick Flow heads became paper weights when the the gasket between 2 and 3 broke. Took on a bunch of water locked the motor and couldnt save anything. USMC302 didnt you take on water between 2-3. Maybe its just a common thing.


Brad

Yes we blew 2 and 3 but that was on the stock heads. haven't had any problems with the TW's yet. Thanks for the heads up though. I will be going AFR 225 on the 331. How do you like your AFR's?

I ordered the longblock from DSS out of Illinois so the heads were already on the block. I have only about 100 miles or so on the new setup so I dont know by gains quite yet. What I do know is that the heads just sitting on top of the block look amazing. I think they are going to be worth every extra penny I spent on them. The 225 are a good choice for your stroked combo. Good luck with that setup. You wont need it.


Brad