Head Gasket Selection

[stolensupra]

Ok I am doing my first BHG job my car is mostly stock aside from a shimmed wastegate a 3 inch downpipe and such. Don't have the resources or money to do a full metal prep that'll be a couple years down the line. I'm looking for an affordable head gasket set that someone on here has had good luck with. If anyone knows a brand or set that works well I would very much appreciate it. Also does anyone know if graphite or composite is better? THose are the two different types of non metal that seem to be availalble. I don't know each's advantages or disadvantages if anyone has any insight or recommendations that would be awesome. Thanks supra community!

 

[Kevin]

go for a oem toyota head gasket

 

[IwantMKIII]

if you want cheap go normal Toyota brand

If you want it done RELIABLY, Resurface the head and buy a middle of the road MHG like Cometic. If you want longest term, most reliable, HKS Stopper is a must. With the HKS, resurface and ARP headstuds youll never have to do it again, unless your rear timing cover seal blows like mine

 

[Kevin]

btw u should do your best atleast get the head resurfaced or checked because it will not last your couple years with your more than stock boost levels.

 

[stolensupra]

btw u should do your best atleast get the head resurfaced or checked because it will not last your couple years with your more than stock boost levels.

Yea sorry I didn't clarify. I'm definitely getting the head resurfaced, hot tanked, re-grinding the valves in the seats, replacing the valve stem seals, new springs. I plan to do the full mhg in the future probably like a year or two but I live in an apt, prefer to do my own work, and am not allowed to to crazy extensive things like pulling a block here. I also can't really afford to pay for someone else to do it. As far as oem toyota head gasket's where can I get a set for a reasonable price? Does anyone know of the diff between composite and graphite or which the oem is? Thanks Fellas

---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 PM ----------

if you want cheap go normal Toyota brand

If you want it done RELIABLY, Resurface the head and buy a middle of the road MHG like Cometic. If you want longest term, most reliable, HKS Stopper is a must. With the HKS, resurface and ARP headstuds youll never have to do it again, unless your rear timing cover seal blows like mine

Do you think just resurfacing the head and cleaning the block surface very well is enough to run a MLS Cometic? I know you can't physically see my block or anything but I stopped driving it immediately when the hg blew and I had just imported the engine from japan it had 25k miles on it and i only put about 4k on it before it blew. I just don't want to do do this twice in like a month and waste the money if the cometic wont hold.

 

[ben1984j]

Do you think just resurfacing the head and cleaning the block surface very well is enough to run a MLS Cometic? I know you can't physically see my block or anything but I stopped driving it immediately when the hg blew and I had just imported the engine from japan it had 25k miles on it and i only put about 4k on it before it blew. I just don't want to do do this twice in like a month and waste the money if the cometic wont hold.

Some have gotten away with it, some haven't...but the block really needs to be re-surfaced as well, if you want it to be reliable (I wouldn't really trust that the engine only has 25k on it anyway). At that point you might as well do a full rebuild...If you can't afford that yet then you're better off to get a Toyota HG and stay at near-stock power levels.

And to answer your question you can get one from Champion Toyota for only $86 or so last time I checked...

 

[gottadiesel]

As far as oem toyota head gasket's where can I get a set for a reasonable price?

---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 PM ----------

The best source I have found for OEM Toyota Parts is - http://www.toyotapartszone.com/ - They are about 25% off dealer price, but all of their parts are directly from Toyota warehouse, shipping was fast, in addition you can put your VIN # into the web application, which then allows you to search by VIN rather than just year...

This is where I got all of my small formed coolant lines that run off the bypass to go through the throttle body/isc valve etc...along with clutch fork (only $58) and the support for the fork, shimmy dampener, targa seals and several seals/gaskets... As far as I can tell everything that Toyota still makes for the supra is on their website...

Good luck with the rest...