i have 8.5:1 compression and plan to be in the 20psi range.....
I am told that cometics are no good (they leak and can come apart, and $$$, and only in "off" sizes, and lots of prep to install properly)... and that for the money i am better off with a stock gasket. several sources tell me that they have seen the stock GM gasket hold up under boost better than the felpro....
of course a soild metal gasket would probably be the best bet... but that requires lots of machine work to the head and deck for a proper seal....
so i was told get a stock gasket (gm dealer $80) or if im cheap to go with felpro ($20 at autozone)... but for the cost and prep of a cometic... it isnt worth it.
my question then is... what do you all suggest?
stock felpro cometic or solid copper? and why?
(also, i dont want to alter compression or cam spacing by using a different thickness of gasket... so that also works against cometic.)
You are going to get alot of different answers here about that, for example i my self i bought both cause i didn't know which would be better, the copper or cometic, after looking at both of the and comparing the different heat range on both metals, my conclusion was copper handles heat better than metal and heat gets spread evenly with copper and cools faster.
I have a .074 copper gasket in my car and before i put the head on i had it shaved which is very cheap to get done, and then i put 4 layers of copper spray on my gasket to ensure that it was sealed properly and the head studs tighten at 90ftp.
I never had a leak what so ever and ive used the gasket twice know, and still no leaks, ive used copper gaskets on a few 2.4ld9 turbo motors and none of the have ever leaked at all. these were also between 15 all the way to 30 psi.
here are a few questions for you,
1.what turbo are you going to be running for you to be in the 20psi range.
2.do you have head studs or are you going to be using the regular bolts ( i hope not )
3.do you have your motor bore and honed to .020 over or stock bore.
4.are you going to be running stock cams or after market, that also changes your compression.
Thats all i have for now, but to answer your question , go with copper and head studs you will be fine. don't beat on your car till you at least put close to a 1000 miles and you will never have a leak problem. That goes with any gasket you put on.
http://a709.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/85/l_c45bfa9c54e0aebaf0fbf6bf67c30a74.jpg
Running the amount of boost you are...I would go metal gasket....but I would go stock thickness on it. I would get a copper gasket, prepped as stated above.
I dont like OHC engines with thin/thicker gaskets on them personally, but I do like the strength.
If you have had material removed from the block/head for machining purposes, I would try to add that to the thickness of the gasket.
I have "connections" in the copper head gasket department, that can be made to order at damn near any thickness you want.
any chance you could hook me up with a .074" thick copper head gasket for the LD9 but with a 92mm bore? Hybrid quads are expensive
I dont think that would be a problem.
I will get a price quote for the gaskets. Due to the price of copper now...they might be a little high, but I will get the quote either way.
BTW, if there is enough interest in gaskets for the 2.4....reguardless of bore size, I could probably start some type of GP, and get reduced prices.
20 says phil comes on here and says something to the accord of "what ever you do stay away from cometic. they are junk I know a guy that says so. you want to use a normal mls gasket from gm, thats what I ran when I ran a gabillon lbs of boost"
lets just hope he doesnt see my post
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Kick azz is my boost hero!!! 
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Quote:
I dont think that would be a problem.
I will get a price quote for the gaskets. Due to the price of copper now...they might be a little high, but I will get the quote either way.
sick deal! Price doesn't bother me as long as it's under $200 lol
I will let you know when I hear back.
john get me a price for LD9 head gasket in copper... preferably a lil thicker than stock (to make up for milling my head and deck) but not as thick as the cometic....
I am very interested.
this would be a solid single layer copper gasket?
Ken, the gaskets I can get made are 1 piece metal gaskets from rolled to thinckness copper (not machined or chemically treated to obtain thickness) and are available in the following thicknesses:
.024 .050 .060 .070 .080 .090 .100
.031 .051 .061 .071 .081 .091 .102
.037 .052 .062 .072 .082 .092 .104
.042 .053 .063 .073 .083 .093 .105
.044 .054 .064 .074 .084 .094 .106
.046 .055 .065 .075 .085 .095 .108
.048 .056 .066 .076 .086 .096 .110
.057 .067 .077 .088 .097 .120
.058 .068 .078 .089 .098 .125
.069 .079 .099 .150
I am sure you can find something you like. I am still waiting for a price quote, and a group discount on these.
any word from your people on the gaskets?
I would like to get this engine together soon here...
let me know when you know!
Sorry for the delay....Ive been out for a while. I am sure you know why Ken.
I am going to give the guy a call today. He may have written an email, but I had thousands to sift through....so it will be quicker this way.
I will ty to post something up later today.
Hmm, I maybe interested in this.
I thought Copper headgaskets required the headbolts to be retorqued every once in awhile
Jason
99 Z24 Supercharged
157hp/171tq - NA
LD9 for Life
They normally do.....but nothing excessive.
I have a question and it sounds like ya'll would know. The pistons I have are .020 overbore. I was told to use the stock size head gasket. when I upgrade. Would that be correct?
I would get the gasket bore to match the cyl.
oh, and I heard back from my guy, he needs to know exact thicknesses for prices.
I gave him what I had, but if you have something specific you want....lemme know asap.
.074" or .080" thick, LD9 head gasket but with a 92mm bore
Ok guys, I got the prices in.....VERY good, better than I thought actually.
Let me know the EXACT thickness you want, and your zip code, I will get you a price shipped.
Like I said, if there is enough interest, I will set up a GP...I have not seen enough interest yet though.
Sorry for the questions but I have a 2.2L Ecotec. does anyone know what the gasket bore size I would need with .020 overbore. I'm gona go search. but if anyone knows right off hand that would be Fantastic!
The factory head gasket fits the .020 over cylinders just fine
ASE Master Certified Automotive Technician
if i am having a custom gasket cut for me... should i have them factor for my .010 overbore? or is it not even worth it?
normally i wouldnt worry... but i mean if they are already doing it custom... it wouldnt hurt to have them factor that in too.
what ya think? yeah or neigh?
