Help w/ Head Gasket Selection

by 77mali Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:30 pm

After rebuilding the top end & running the engine to operating temp a few times now I have noticed that there is a very slight oil leak at the back of the cylinder heads at the block. The gasket that came w/ my new heads was a Fel-pro 120 mil thick "synthetic" style gasket & BTW the heads are a Vortec type. I'm not pleased w/ the leak obviously because it means a tear down but such is life...better it happened now than when the whole engine bay was done & I'm going to remove the engine & trans to paint & refurbish over the winter anyway. I'd appreciate some opinions on what the best type of compressible stainless steel gasket would be to buy (I never want to have to do this again). There are so many choices & I'd like to see what others have used & would recommend before I commit. Thanks.

by pila Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:40 pm

The only stainless steel shim type gasket I'm aware of is the GM part. I haven't seen an after market gasket like that.

by 77mali Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:27 pm

I'm going to try & retorque 1st, I guess & double check my work & the rear of the intake manifold, too. Cometic makes all type of gaskets expensive as heck though about $100 a piece in my case.

by ant7377 Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:31 pm

I had/have the same problem. I found one leak coming from the oil pressure gauge hole, the compression fitting must of not been seating any more. I also found the dist gasket to be leaking a bit too. I m going to change that soon.
What did you use for intake gaskets? Did you use the end seals or a bead of silicone. The GM intake gaskets dont include the end seals so I used the silicone I think its good but I will determine that after I replace the dist. gasket. I hope i dont have to tear in apart again.

by ant7377 Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:32 pm

Just saw your message. Retourque too I did that it helped. Follow the manifolds torque sequence.

by 77mali Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:50 pm

I'm pretty sure the manifold is on well. There's that area where you have to get the sealant just right at the junction of the heads & manifold in the rear that I'm going to double check. I put a new gasket under the Dist. also and the fitting for the oil pressure sensor is also good. I have a feeling that the head gaskets might not be correct & the shop made a boo-boo and gave me the non vortec version by mistake. Will have to find the packaging & cross reference the number. Rolling Eyes

We'll see.

by ant7377 Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:39 am

The ones I used were GM part # 10105117 seemed to cst 20 bucks each.

by 77mali Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:36 am

You did a vortec swap also right? Just checking, thanks for the P/N.

by ant7377 Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:14 pm

Yeah and those were the ones Scoggin Dickey (gm performance parts warehouse) supplied with the kit.

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Help w/ Head Gasket Selection

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