This winter im gonna go ahead and get my head work done. I plan on 12mm studs, orings, and im undecided on what kind of gasket. I kinda like the idea of the copper head gaskets. Just wonderin if any one out there had any good or bad luck with these. Ive got a friend thats runnin one and hes had good luck with it so far.

 

From what I've heard they are the absolute biggest pain in the rear to get sealed, leak constantly, and are overall just a nightmare. The head and block have to be surfaced completely flat and they have to be surfaced perfectly to get it to seal.

 

yeah as stated by haisley they are not for street trucks. If I was you I would fire ring or c ring the head with a .20 over gasket. you can get the gasket with matching rings from haisley or schied and they will give you measurements on how how deep to cut the grooves, or you can send the head to them and they will do it. If youve ever seen a fire ring compared to an oringed head you will definately go the fire ringed route.

 

I like fire rings on trucks just used for competition purposes only.... The o-rings just seems to have longer durability for everyday use. We have used o-rings in engines producing between 900-1000 HP with great success! Remember bigger isn't always better.

Doug Smith

 

You obviously aren't from Texas.

 

You kill me man!!!

 

Really, what happened to you?? Last time I saw a picture of you, I thought I was looking at a the end result of a chicken mating with a funny looking rat...must be the Okie in ya', huh

J/K Blue,
Chris

 

You musta caught my good side then.

 

Im pretty sure orings, studs, and a .20 over gasket would be all i would ever need. How many times are you supposed to torque the studs after installing?

 

can you explain to me the benefits of orings over fire rings or c rings because I cant see a wire pushing down on a stock fire ring holding better than an solid steel ring replacing the actual fire ring. and when your cost are going to be the same why not go for a sturdier setup. I personally think fire rings are superior although they may require more retorques initially.

 

I'd like to know what a c-ring is cause I've never heard of it. And refresh my memory on what makes a fire ring different and better than an o-ring.

 

O ring is machined into the head , and a Fire ring is machined into the block , I THINK ( i hereby reserve all rights to be incorrect, and wish to receive no texas ridicule for possibly being wrong)

 

We don't need a reason to ridicule you. And not being from Texas is enough reason if we want one.

 

an oring is machined into the head and is a small protruding wire that pushes down on the factory fire ring on the factory head gasket. an fire ring is a solid steel ring that sits in a grove machined into the head or block or both. the factory fire ring is cut out of the gasket and you get the gasket and rings in a set with the groove cut to match the rings sent depending on which head gasket thickness you chose.

A c ring is just a diffrent shape than an fire ring and there are therioes behind why is works better. It has a flat side instead of being completley round

I just dont understand why it would be less reliable than orings as long as the grooves are all cut correctly and the right rings are sent and the proper retorques are done? fire rings and c rings are all we use around here.

 

This is just a guess on the reason fire rings are less reliable, but would it have something to do with the repeated heat/cool cycles?

It does seem to me that the reliability would be tha same, maybe even better, due to the fact that there could be two groves...