Exhaust Gasket Material? How about?

[bmarley5780]

Has anyone used the exhaust gasket material made by Mr. Gasket? How well it holds up? Any thoughts on on it?

[Und3rprshUr]

Works fine... But what exactly are you using it for ?

[bmarley5780]

A exhaust mannifold gasket.....for a rb20det

[C-Kwik]

If it's their paper gasket, don't expect it it hold.

You either want a graphite impregnated gasket, or a metal multi-layer or copper gasket. If I were you I'd opt for a metal gasket of some sort so that it is reusable. I'm sure RB20 gaskets are rare here. Having to source a new one if you ever have to remove the manifold would be a pain in the butt.

[bmarley5780]

yeah its the paper one. They didnt have the graphte one one hand. I will probably get some later on. I have a feeling that i will have to take the engine out again sometime for something....Hopefully for a rb25/30det.....!!! Thaks for the help

[erich]

I used som Fel-Pro 'Fel-Ceram' stuff for custom turbo/manifold gaskets. They are a ceramic weave over steel core, either single sided ceramic or double sided ceramic. Held up great until the turbo bolts loosened up and then they came apart over a couple of weeks.

[bmarley5780]

thanks for the advice, anyone know how well that graphite holds up? Would some thread lock stuff held out any?

[erich]

As far as I know (and I looked) the highest temp rating on a thread locker is between 450-600 degrees F. To keep the bolts holding the turbo on I used some heavy gague stainless steel sheet and made some tabs that went under the bolt that I could bend up around the nut on one side and down around the side of the turbo flange on the other.When I was looking for gasket material I went to the local parts place and got a sheet of each of the materials available. I had some Mr Gasket yellowish stuff, the Mr Gasket dark grey stuff and the Fel-Ceram stuff. I cut a piece from each and hit them with a blowtorch for about 15 seconds. The fel-ceram was the only one that didn't burn, so I went with it for my turbo gaskets.

[C-Kwik]

Graphite impregnated gaskets are what most factory cars come with. Even most of the aftermarket exhaust companies provide them when you buy an exhaust that has more than one pice joined by a flange. I use them on my turbo manifold with no problems.

As for preventing nuts from loosening, I use factory nuts. I had problems with the turbo to mani nuts coming loose until I realized the stock manifold to head nuts used the same threading. Went to the local Nissan dealer and picked up 4 nuts and they hold great. They are mechanically compressed slightly on top, so they provide a mechanical clamping force onto the stud so they don't back out. I would imagine most nissans use the same threading. It's M10 x 1.25 if you need to know. The only part I could not use something like this on was my wastegate to mani connections. Since it uses a bolt rather than a stud/nut set-up, I can't use a mechanical lock-nut. My solution to this was to use allen head bolts and drill a small hole through the side of the head. Then I used safety wire to keep it from turning. Only been running this for a few weeks, so I'm waiting to see if there are any issues, but I think it should hold.