MLS head gaskets

[efeezie]

Does anybody know where to get one for the VH45? I've had no luck looking for one.

[gs14racer]

It doesnt exist, i was told by cometic that they could make one if i ordered a minimun of 150 sets or something ridiculous like that.

[tmorgan4]

That's odd they wanted you to buy a ton. Maybe try going through their custom order process and see how much it would run. I know a few guys on the board have had gaskets made so if you could find a company that already has the design on file it may save a few bucks.

http://www.cometic.com/custom.aspx

[VH45GTR]

i tried their custom order proccess and i even sent them a brand new gasket as a sample. the reply i got was they could do it but a minimum buy of 50 gaskets was needed.

[Carl H]

why isnt the stock composite gasket with arp studs good enough?there are motors out there with that combo pushing 25psi+ of boost and holding fine.

[S13 Roger]

i would also like to buy some metall head gaskets.just to be on the safe side, as im planning high boost on my vh.i can join a group buy if some one is planning to order:)

[sijoko]

Does anybody know where to get one for the VH45? I've had no luck looking for one.

If went with MLS headgaskets, do you have to machine the block and heads first? I've heard something about the surface finish having to be at a certain level in order for MLS gaskets to seal properly.

[gs14racer]

As long as its not warped there should be no problems, ive replaced stock gaskets and ran mls gaskets on numerous engine at high boost 20+ psi with no problems until the bottoms gave out anyway lol.

[John Dixon]

Try Mike Tanski at ferriday: http://www.ferriday.co.uk/He has the my 98mm bore ones on file so should be no hassle to make a set with stock 93mm bore.

[SuperHatch]

why isnt the stock composite gasket with arp studs good enough?there are motors out there with that combo pushing 25psi+ of boost and holding fine.

That's exactly what I was thinking...

[sijoko]

Okay, so who wants custom MLS gaskets? This company will do them for you with no minimums.

http://www.gasketstogo.com/

[WizardBlack]

Cost? They look a bit shady. I am surprised Cometic wouldn't do it.

[sijoko]

Cost? They look a bit shady. I am surprised Cometic wouldn't do it.

Don't know about cost. It'll be a lot cheaper than having to pay for a minimum order.

They have examples of their previous work on their site. The guy that runs the company is an ex-pat American living in Thailand.

[VH45GTR]

Has anyone seen or know off an engine running enough boost to push a head gasket out? If your concerned about the letting go just over torque it.The other option is a good quality copper gasket and some o-rings

[WizardBlack]

I sure as heck aint gonna build a motor for big boost with stock gaskets (which I just looked at today) and hope it will hold.

BTW, I looked at their site and most of the examples of their work are tractors and motorcycle stuff like Harleys (which leak anyways, LOL). I was concerned about the wording on their site. It seems they just basically copy off of an example instead of getting prints for it. Almost like they are tracing it. Cometic is in my state and they have always been cool. I will ring them up and see what they say. Everyone interested should call and ask them if they have gaskets just to drum up their awareness. Perhaps they'll be convinced to do a run.

[efeezie]

Im with you wizard black

My boosted VH wont be an issue because Im only looking for 450whp and I did that on stock KA. However we have a customer that wants to build GT47 powered VH and stock gaskets arent gonna cut it.

Cometic said they could do a copper gasket for the VH45. With some good o-rings that might be a good option.

[Carl H]

i would love to know why you think the stock hg is not capable of holding power with arp studs.

[T45]

The truth is that nobody has pushed a stock HG far enough to blow it. If it ain't broke...

[Carl H]

bingo.

The truth is that nobody has pushed a stock HG far enough to blow it. If it ain't broke...

and in the end more often or not its not the power generated by the engine that blows the gasket but rather the pressure pushed into the engine...a gt47 should flow ample air at a sane boost level to make retarded power.if almost 470 can be made on 6psi out of a diesel truck turbo then a gt47 should make 600 no worries at 12-14.

[SuperHatch]

This thread is stupid. I've seen my fair share of stock composite style gaskets hold 25psi for thousands of miles when coupled with ARP headstuds. The fact of the matter is MLS gaskets were primarily designed for use in engines where the cylinder head and block are composed of different materials (iron/aluminum) because they can deal with the thermal shift better than graphite composite. It just happens that in extreme applications they are marginally stronger. The VH is all AL and composite gaskets are plenty strong. If you build a VH for "insane boost" I hope you mean over 25psi.

By the way, if you have the knowledge required to build a properly setup 30psi race engine, you should be smart enough to find MLS gaskets on your own and not need a forum to help you out.

Most people are so ignorant that they believe everything they read online, that you NEED MLS gaskets for boosted engines, that you NEED whatever the online myth of the week is... get educated and get over it.

[efeezie]

By the way, if you have the knowledge required to build a properly setup 30psi race engine, you should be smart enough to find MLS gaskets on your own and not need a forum to help you out.

My fukin bad for asking a simple question! When the time comes i can figure it out, just wanted to see if there were any "marginally stronger" HG's out there that I might of missed.

However, we do plan on taking his stock VH as far as possible before actually building the motor. Its not getting a GT47 just because

[Unnatural1]

I'm betting the stock head gaskets and a set of ARP studs will hold just fine. But in the event that they don't a "marginally better" gasket isn't going to cut it either. By that point, you need to be thinking about some sort of lock ring style head gasket and machining the block and heads to accept them.

Of course, there are other people that would rather blow a stock style head gasket then drive over internal parts of their engine.

In any event, you should give SCE Gaskets a call. They used to be willing to do custom metal head gaskets. I don't know if they still will but it's worth a shot.

http://www.scegasketsonline.com/

[Carl H]

i dunno if you've had a vh apart yet but the fact that they use the uber large gti-r headstuds makes me doubt that the head will lift even with a metricasston of boost.the holding mechanism is too well designed...but each to his own.that and the freeking 50 step procedure you have to go thru to torque the head = no lifty.

[Gaskets-To-Go]

I see that I am way late in getting on here, but better late than never. I am the owner of Gaskets-To-Go (www.gasketstogo.com) and I was disappointed to see that someone here referred to my business as looking 'shady' and another person bad-mouthing the quality of our MLS gaskets without offering a single piece of evidence to back that statement up. I just want to let you know that our MLS gaskets are running in BMWs, Mercedes, Holdens, Toyotas, you name it, and have been in race winning machines on three continents. Our customers have been very happy with our MLS gaskets, and if you visit my site you can check out the references pages to read customer comments. I would be happy to provide references to previous satisfied customers on request. If you need MLS gaskets we can make them for you with NO tooling charges,NO set-up charges, and NO minimum order size. Please feel free to contact me at the email address on my website at any time for more information or to discuss your requirements. Thanks.

John BakerGaskets-To-Go

[tempestas]

company called paeco (paeco.com) will make copper head gaskets for anything. Price for set of v8 gaskets is $390 per pair. I have delt with them, and unfortunitly had an issue with some custom made valve springs, but honestly, it was my fault for not checking the inner springs for bind, although, they failed to tell me they expected me to machine the head for the inners... but that doesn't much matter, just thought i would throw it up incase someone wanted copper.. pretty pricey, but should last forever.

looks like gaskets to go does copper as well after i looked. From what i gathered, look reasonably priced as well....
Modified by tempestas at 8:46 AM 10/16/2009

[Gaskets-To-Go]

We can certainly make solid copper head gaskets for less than that, and MLS gaskets as well. Feel free to contact me through my web site at http://www.gasketstogo.com for more information.