I have been watching this forum for a long time. Blown head gaskets seem to be as common as dead VP44's, I have read threads where all the following have blown at one time or another:
fire-ring head with cut gasket
o-ring head with stock/aftermarket gasket
stock gaskets etc
all of the above both with and without head studs, and with and without multiple re-torque's.

Provided that all instructions are followed to a T, the procedure was done correctly and the torque sequence is followed correctly what will hold best in
A: 12 valve
B: 24 valve

C: 1st gen or 3rd gen if you have 1st hand experience

Looking for maximum long term durability driving 25k+ miles a year with big single or twins, towing half the time and sled pulling 25-30 pulls a year.

Opinions are fine but would like to hear "I have a (signature truck) and have driven ________ miles, and have pulled _______ times with my _______ turbo/turbos and blew/have not blown my head gasket at ______ miles.

Would really like to hear experiences, I have fixed blown head gaskets on others trucks and don't want to fix mine more than once if possible.

 

I've had studs for a few months and no blown headgasket after almost two years 15k miles with boost levels up to 47. During the install the studs were retorqued progressively from the center out and I haven't touched them yet. Guys who pull the head and get o rings or fire rings would need more retorques.

 

Thats the kind of feedback I was looking for. Thanks

 

I've had studs in for about a year now and had T O T A L ... H E double toothpics ...with the studs. I broke two of them going to 120 lbs and then blew the gasket, then broke another one. Once I got it all back together I went to 118 lbs. then retourqed it when it was hot. That's the only retourqe I've done and now with the smarty on cool nights I've hit 51 lbs.

 

Your breaking ARP's at 120ft/lbs? I'd find a new vendor if I were you. I have torqued mine to 150 for the past 15k miles every 4-5k. Never had an issue. I sure hope the replacements arent coming out of your pocket.

 

I'd find a new torque wrench or get yours calibrated.

 

I use a stock headgasket and studs from DonM. I'm trying to keep my boost low (see other discussions about mass air flow) and haven't blown this head gasket (Installed it when I rebuilt the engine)
I think that a lot of the head gasket problems come from the head and block prep. There is much more to it than getting them flat. You will need someone who can cut in a pattern. This pattern should have about 80% carrying surface and 20% grooves that are approx. 0.25mm deep. (Like with the porsche heads)


AlpineRAM

 

ARP 12mm studs 50,75,100,120 then 140 ft/lbs with one retorque at 140. O-ring, new, flat head prepped by Enterprise Engine, 0.020 over marine HG, 25* timing boost levels to 50 psi on peaks, 40 on pulls. 6 sled hooks, always brought engine up to operating temp before pull. 3,000 miles on since head swap no problems. HTT 64/65/13 turbo. 98, 12 valve.

Seems there are more recipes for head retorques than there are for chili. Good luck with the project.

 

I'm no super HP guy but I have ran 38* timming and 60 plus pounds of boost for going on 3 years with stock head bolts and just o-rings. I did however set the rings a little farther out than most do. I also run a stock HG. I pull sleds all the time and also run the truck hard on the street. I think block preperation and head prep are the best way. I also retq every other oil change. and never passed 30Psi of boost until after the first 3 retq's I like o-rings for a daily driver and Fire rings for the pulling/drag strip guys. I have seen many fire rings go bad on guys who drive their truck a lot on the streets but for the guys I talk to that just sled pull and have fire rings they seem to hols. why I have no clue.
DM01

 

Thanks for the info. Anyone try the Cometic HG's and care to chime in. They have a pretty detailed install guideline on their website.

I also know guys that ran stock bolts and o-rings back in the day and had good results, I guess it still works.

 

On my 02 SO I had the head o-ringed, I thuroughly cleaned all of the bolt holes using lots of swabbs (it was a long slow process) and used a factory headgasket and factory head bolts torqued to Cummins specs. I ran the truck for about 15K miles towing about 10K for 5K miles of that, hooked to a sled once, and had one very rough dyno run. I ran 3 different small turbos in my twin combos during that time. I saw boost numbers up to 90psi on the dyno and street, I didn't look at that gauge while hooked to the sled, the set up held up fine for me. Financial reasons forced me grive a gasser for a while really miss the truck.
One thing I have noticed a bit is if you o-ring or fire ring before you blow a headgasket you seem to have better luck. It seems as though once you blow a headgasket it is more likely to happen again.

 

This is my daily driver; 98 12V, 153k miles on stock bottom end, PDR cam, twin turbo 40/3B max of 66psi. I now have 3.5 years and 63k miles on this setup, and I did the whole buildup all at the same time:
O-ringed head, 020 marine headgasket, ARP studs torqued at 126 lbs and I did the first three retorques when the head went on, but have not done any retorques since. Truck so far has dynoed as high as 612, 620 and 630hp.

My 95 so far dynoes at 420hp single HX40 turbo, stock everything on engine, never been apart, 196k miles.

 

Im real curious about the status of a 12v gasket from cometic.

 

Alot of lost head gaskets is related to driving the truck (only associated with a fair amount of fuel and high boost) while below normal operating temps. It rings will slow it down some but if you hit 30-40lbs with lots of fuel while cold a few times you'll loose a gasket!

 

here ya go, looks and sounds pretty good

http://www.competitiondiesel.com/for...ad.php?t=15349