best head gasket for turbo

[IanS13]

well my and my bro completed his turbo kat, took it out for test drive.and what do we see comming out the tial pipe, mad blue smoke smells like coolant, oil is milky ,SOB so the head is being pulled off and sent to be pressure tested and milled if need be, then we sending it to be P&P and new vlave seals.

but still what would be the best head gasket for KA-T 12psi

[fabio420]

cometic multi-layered for ~100 bucks. But u gotta make sure the head and blosk are properlu surfaced.

[4felix20]

http://www.amsperformance.com/...d=153

i'd get that one.awesome company too.

[fabio420]

that's the one. and I got my pistons from them too. good company

[nissanfanatic]

12psi...??

Stock. And this time, get the tune right.

[IanS13]

the head gasket was blown beofre the turbo was installed the car was sitting for like a year, when my bro got the car during delivery the radiator blew, and the is guess the car was ran hot so that did it.

[emperor_lunchbox]

The MLS is a good gasket, very popular item. It cannot be stressed enough that the surfaces need to be extremely precise. If this is a mild build up I would just get something else like an IPP HP gasket or something. But that is me, I am cautious. I read somewhere that machine shops do not have the ability to machine the surfaces to the tolerances acceptable for that gasket. Whether or not thats true is a different story.

[nissanfanatic]

Hence another reason to just use a stock headgasket. Remove the head properly and just clean the surface the best you can. The stock headgasket will hold taht amoutn of power no problem. A metal headgasket is overkill.

[s14det]

I'm rebuilding my block right now with a Fel pro head gasket. I'm going to be running 15-18psi on 91 octane. I'm using the gasket as kind of a fuse. If something goes wrong for some reason, the gasket should be the first that goes hopefully. I'm using crower rods and Aries pistons fyi

[Aaron_9349]

I'm gonna go with Fabio, the Cometic is the best bang for the buck. It encorporates a nice o-ring around each bore, just like getting the block o-ringed on top of each cylinder, except without the hassle. Plus, its reusable, and can handle quite a bit. I wouldn't run a stock gasket, but thats just me. I mean, if your gonna rip off the head anyways, why would you put the stock one back in. Be safe man, go with a better one, so you're not pulling off the head again.

[sunnys14]

u cant go wrong with cometic

[12valveturbo]

I think at that psi you would be better off with a Nissan gasket from the dealer. I run 15psi on my Nissan gasket and I run it hard everytime I drive it.

[Chezedik]

Running Felpro, give it to me over stock any day. More time and thought went into how the felpro is made. But OEMish will be good enough.

[12valveturbo]

I have gone through plenty of headgaskets and I think the fel pro is the worst. I have had no issues with oem where the fel-pro has failed on the same tune. Everything the same and the oem takes it no problem.

[sunnys14]

isnt the OEM gasket made by FELPRO?

[Chezedik]

I would be surprised. The OEM is a sintered metal design, and felpro has channels to help seal the cyl a little better. Since Felpro is not exactly like OEM, it should seal better. Maybe your head surface isn't fine enough, so the crush style stock is working better. But the gasket itself is a good one, despite what bad luck you may have had.

[Chezedik]

I have gone through plenty of headgaskets...

Proof is in the pudding, your head needs to be straight and have a good finish, or you will keep blowing gaskets, no matter who makes them.

[12valveturbo]

no the stock one is made by stone. I am well aware everything needs to be flat.Everytime I do a headgasket I check the head and the block for flatness. EXACT SAME TUNE THE FEL-PRO WILL S&#T THE BED. You could not give me a fel-pro headgasket.

[nissanfanatic]

You can go wrong with Cometic...

Pre-ignition would typically blow a headgasket out and that would save your pistons. With a cometic, the headgasket is going to hold that pressure and your ringlands would crack. A stock headgasket can act as a fuse for your engine.

If you are pushing the limits of the stock block, I agree you should do a cometic. But for a 12psi setup(300whp), a metal headgasket is nowhere near necessary. A better tune is if you are blowing gaskets.

[nissanfanatic]

no the stock one is made by stone. I am well aware everything needs to be flat.Everytime I do a headgasket I check the head and the block for flatness. EXACT SAME TUNE THE FEL-PRO WILL S&#T THE BED. You could not give me a fel-pro headgasket.

The stock headgasket I bought was packaged as a "Fel-Pro Perma-Torque" but is a Stone gasket. "Stone 4A" is stamped into the gasket right in front of cylinder #1.

[12valveturbo]

You got lucky then because Im a fel pro dealer and they are certainly not the same company. btw nice numbers Nissanfanatic
Modified by 12valveturbo at 5:19 AM 3/13/2006