which Head Gasket to get??
- Thread starter suprafanatic
- Start date
im getting mine back in about three days from getting a titan motorsports 1.4mm unit put in so ill let ya no how that goes
giterboosted said:
I talked to titan on the phone. Their gaskets are very similar to Cometic gaskets. I have a Cometic installed. But I haven't ran the engine yet. I recommend Cometic though.
ok.. well im sure the shop would do that if i gave them a metal head gasket.. any body have an idea how much a shop will charge for a repalced HG? the shop im giong to is like $40 an hour,, no idea how long it would take.
Don't assume the "shop will know" 
To install a MHG right, you have to deck the head AND block to a specific RA (smoothness) spec. ARP hardware has to be torqued to ARP spec (not stock Toyota). That's just a couple of things...there's more to it...suggest you read up on it here a bit and read the TSRM.
To install a MHG right, you have to deck the head AND block to a specific RA (smoothness) spec. ARP hardware has to be torqued to ARP spec (not stock Toyota). That's just a couple of things...there's more to it...suggest you read up on it here a bit and read the TSRM.
I'm not fond of Cometic, either. I blew one up.
HKS, on the other hand, seems to hold fine on my car.
HKS, on the other hand, seems to hold fine on my car.
well the shop that machined my head down here in GA did it for $267 so hope that gives you an idea of how much youre lookin at here, but trust me youre guna wana do this, and yea ive also been told that the titan gaskets are made for them by cometic
Not to be a Thread Robber...im in the same boat i just had my head complelty rebuilt and the head shop said it was almost perfect to begin with but theres 110k on it so i had them rebuild everything anyway...I havent ordered a gasket cuz i donno which one to get..I was thinking the titan motorsports but now it seems some people are saying not to go down that road......
Yeah, when I brought my car it had a blown head gasket on a fresh bottom. When I took my head to the shop it needed minor straighting. I told him was using an hks headgasket and he preped just the head for it. I never had aproblem out of it.
so you didnt have to prep the block with the hks cause im gonna change mine this summer even tho its not blown rather do it before it blows
my goal here is to save you cash or time. You have a block that is 10 or more years old it has pitting around the cyls. The pitting is from age, coolant corrosion whatever. Maybe even a warped head from before you owned it. There are plenty of threads on this topic.
IT IS MUCH EASIER TO SEAL A STOCK OR FELPRO TO AN UNPREPED BLOCK!!! To you this means maybe you pay a shop to do the job, and it lasts 3months, so you pay again. If you are doing it yourself then fine but it wont last long.
At work most newer toyotas come with a metal gasket. There is no pitting on the block ask me what we do if there is.
IT IS MUCH EASIER TO SEAL A STOCK OR FELPRO TO AN UNPREPED BLOCK!!! To you this means maybe you pay a shop to do the job, and it lasts 3months, so you pay again. If you are doing it yourself then fine but it wont last long.
At work most newer toyotas come with a metal gasket. There is no pitting on the block ask me what we do if there is.
Ok...one more time to back what quake is saying.
If you install ANY MHG (HKS, Cometic, Titan, Greddy, etc), to do it correctly BOTH the head and block should be surfaced for the RA spec the manufacturer calls for. Doing JUST THE HEAD is a crap shoot...the MHG MAY or MAY NOT seal properly. JUST because you got away with re-surfacing the head only means you're LUCKY. IMO, if you do not have the funds to re-surface the block, use a stock HG.
Clear enough gentlemen?
::dead horse::
If you install ANY MHG (HKS, Cometic, Titan, Greddy, etc), to do it correctly BOTH the head and block should be surfaced for the RA spec the manufacturer calls for. Doing JUST THE HEAD is a crap shoot...the MHG MAY or MAY NOT seal properly. JUST because you got away with re-surfacing the head only means you're LUCKY. IMO, if you do not have the funds to re-surface the block, use a stock HG.
Clear enough gentlemen?
::dead horse::
For all the guys thinking of slapping a MHG on without surfacing the block here's one for you.
My block was surfaced then Lapped using a large lapping plate and diamond paste, sealed up perfectly until I had an Intake Manifold explosion.
This blew the HKS Stopper between 3 cylinders, when I was rebuilding I gave the block a quick Lap to clean up the surface ready for a new HKS.
My Mistake was not installing the Main Caps and studs as my "quick lap" when the motor was fully assembled resulted in dips in the deck and a 100% chance of a BHG not far in the future.
I had to pull the head again after minimal time (not HG related) saw the lack of uniform crush and had the Deck cut again, it took a 6 thou cut to be perfect.
My block was surfaced then Lapped using a large lapping plate and diamond paste, sealed up perfectly until I had an Intake Manifold explosion.
This blew the HKS Stopper between 3 cylinders, when I was rebuilding I gave the block a quick Lap to clean up the surface ready for a new HKS.
My Mistake was not installing the Main Caps and studs as my "quick lap" when the motor was fully assembled resulted in dips in the deck and a 100% chance of a BHG not far in the future.
I had to pull the head again after minimal time (not HG related) saw the lack of uniform crush and had the Deck cut again, it took a 6 thou cut to be perfect.
ok.. question.. if im the shop wont prep both head and block.. how well will a felpro HG hold with arp studs torqued to like 72ft. lbs?
suprafanatic said:
You cant find a shop that will do both?
The felpro should be fine as long as you don't run too much boost.