head Gasket question

[capowered240]

Couple days ago I had changed out the head gasket. I got the felpro hg. Pulled the head off. Sprayed the hg with copper spray then put everthing back together.

I was looking around to see if everything was on right. Then I noticed that part of the hg was sticking out from the back on the drivers side. Then today I got on here (nico) and saw some pics of how the hg goes on. I got to thinking and I think I put the hg on wrong.

My question is can I reuse that head gasket that I had sprayed copper spray on it? Its only been about 2 days since I put it on or will I have to get another hg? When I got it all back together, I started it up for about a minute. It didn't sound right so I turned it off. Haven't started it ever since

[originalsin]

have u ran the car? if it is on wrong u will prolly be leaking something or overheating. but i wouldent reuse the hg, its alrdy been crushed and if its put on again the right way it will prolly not seal right.

[capowered240]

I started it up for about a minute then cut if off. Haven't started it since.

[rico05]

If you torqued it all together correctly, I wouldn't use it again. Sucks, because it is ~$70 (I just bought one last week, but I got it at cost). That really sucks man. There is really no way to tell if it is on there wrong w/o pulling it apart again. I am in the middle of my second headgasket swap in a month, so trust me...I feel for ya.

[capowered240]

OK that sucks. Where did you get your hg from? I got my felpro hg from advance auto parts and it was only $51. So I guess I need to get another one?

[rico05]

Damn. NAPA wants $74 for it, O'Reilly wanted $65, but my buddy got it for cost for me at O'Reilly ($30). That is one hell of a price! I would get a new one, but wait for the gurus to pop in. I know that MLS (like the cometic or the like) is reusable, but stock crush ones are not supposed to be. Now, the Felpro has a lot of metal in it, more so than the stock one, so you may be able to get away with it. Just be prepared for the worst.

I had to sell my GT-R seat because mine turned out to be "for the worse", LOL.

[boost_boy]

Couple days ago I had changed out the head gasket. I got the felpro hg. Pulled the head off. Sprayed the hg with copper spray then put everthing back together.

I was looking around to see if everything was on right. Then I noticed that part of the hg was sticking out from the back on the drivers side. Then today I got on here (nico) and saw some pics of how the hg goes on. I got to thinking and I think I put the hg on wrong.

My question is can I reuse that head gasket that I had sprayed copper spray on it? Its only been about 2 days since I put it on or will I have to get another hg? When I got it all back together, I started it up for about a minute. It didn't sound right so I turned it off. Haven't started it ever since

Yes, you can re-use your headgasket. I have used a stock headgasket to break-in one of my motors (5,200miles) with 20psi of T3/T04E boost, tore it down, cleaned the same headgasket with brake cleaner, let it dry, and sprayed the H/G with copper spray a 2nd, and re-used the head for a 2nd time and it worked just great. Now the car is apart for a seriously ported head, cams, racing valve springs, etc, and I will be using a cometic headgasket this time around. But the stock AJUSA gasket was still in great shape after all of that.

Dee

[capowered240]

Alright so I can reuse it. So all I have to do is clean it with brake cleaner to get the copper stuff off, let it dry then put it back on? Now remember this is a felpro gasket.

[boost_boy]

Alright so I can reuse it. So all I have to do is clean it with brake cleaner to get the copper stuff off, let it dry then put it back on? Now remember this is a felpro gasket.

You only use the brake parts cleaner to remove the oil. Your gasket may very well still have most of the copper spray on it, but in my cases, the copper spray came off when the head was removed. You will see your headgasket and we won't, so unless you post up a pic of it, use your better judgement. Make sure that the copper spray goes on evenly.

Dee

[capowered240]

Alright, I'll post up some pics when I get it off