I am going to have my ARP studs any day now, and am going to port my head, and fire ring it while I am at it (and maybe mill off the intake log).

Anyone know the specs for fire rings? Also, what head gasket and wire size and type?

 

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i'd go with a standard gasket, depending on how much you have to machine it to get it flat. fire rings and o-rings are different just so you know. o-rings require a groove in the head. fire rings require a groove in the head AND the block.

 

Can a standard gasket hold a bunch of boost? I am planning on twins!

 

a gasket is a gasket. studs will supply enough clamping force to keep the head from lifting. unless you wanna lower your compression, go standard.

 

aside from the second groove what other differences/benifits between o-ringing and fire-ringing?

 

O-ringing:
O-rings use the stock gasket fire ring, the are generally cut into the head on our engines, can be in the block on other engines. The grooves are cut so they center in the stock fire ring. They are small diameter hard wire, .040" to .050" in diameter and the groove is cut deep enough so you only have .009" to .012" protrusion above the surface so it will clamp the stock fire ring much tighter. Most of the performace shops will recomend this for a daily/occassional drive/play toy.


I have 3 heads I've O-ringed, 2 of them myself and I've had no trouble with them.

Fire Rings:
Fire Rings can be done a few different ways, but they all have one thing in common, the stock gasket fire ring is removed and a welded ring of soft steel made from a certain wire diameter is put in its place. The difference is where and if they have grooves, most setups cut receiving grooves in the head and block so the wire ring cuts into both. Some other setups may have a groove cut in just the block or the head and some might not have any grooves, but most setups put groove in both. The trouble with fire rings is they are very hard on the block/head surfaces, they are typically recomended for compition only setups, due to the likely hood that the normal daily driver truck see alot more heat cycles.

I have a tractor with fire rings installed and it only has the cylinder sleeve cut for fire rings, the head is flat.

 

ok thanks, i under stand now, thanks for the excellent explanation.