Was talkin to a fella lastnight and he said i need to do fire rings before i go any farther with my truck.
I didnt hink many did this with the third gens, i just thought since the stock head gasket is so good that people just studded the head and went on about there buiness.
What your thoughts?

 

I thought the same as you...seems the 3rd gens are holding REALLY well with just a good set of studs.
I would like to hear from some pros on the subject as well.......

 

I had some past experience with blown head gaskets & also scored the head as
a result of a badly blown gasket !

machined the head repaired the score install fire rings with some quality head studs , have not had a problem since !

seems some guys are lucky & run stock gasket , some stock gasket & studs some o rings , fire rings I have heard both positive & negative on all of the setups !

on my truck the Fire-Rings have been golden , along with quality head studs .

 

I think Tim and Lloyd both just run studs and stock head gasket on their trucks???
man if they can hold it together with just studs then it should be good for most others I would think?????
I have some 625's sitting here waiting to install on my truck and I was just planning on the stock gasket and the 625's.

 

my stocker has held up very good for the circumstances it has been under. Tim has his o-ringed though.

 

with my setup, im just studded and no blown gasket yet. i just ran a 12.50@110MPH

 

Best thing you can do for a HPCR headgasket that's well-seated and not leaking is to leave it there... just stud the head (bottom-tap if you're an overachiever ) and drive it.

Next step up is O-rings... I wouldn't mess with fire-rings on a 3rd Gen.

 

Good #s!

What's your 60'?

 

sorry don't mean to change the subject but.... Lloyd, do you use stock connector tubes ? and do you know if Tim does also ?

 

Didnt you try some ported ones?

 

What is the difference between O-ringing and the fire ringing?

 

Bump......

 

Do you still have the stock turbo? Put something on there to keep the drive pressure down, that will preserve your headgasket for sure. I know my SPS62 made a HUGE difference with drive pressure and high RPM performance.

Studs are on my to-do list and I think that is all you really need. I remember some guys just torquing the factory bolts tighter and running over 600hp.

 

Yeah i know drive pressure is a killer and studs are on my to do list as well and yeah im still on the stocker for now but plan to go the Silver Bullet 66 or something of the like.
Just wanted to know the dif between the two.
Hey matego congrats on the 1/4 times!!

 

A fire ring is a seal between the block and head. The gasket is enlarged around the cylinder to give room for the fire ring. They are usually made of ductile iron or copper, depending on how you plan on using it. A o-ringed head uses a stock style gasket and has a o-ring groove cut in the head. It is like a double seal, the o-ring sits on the gasket, not between the block and head like a fire ring.

If you need me to try and explain it different, I will try.