copper head gasket sealer

hey, my engine man said he heard of a new ford spray product that is all the rage now. anyone know what it is? have used ford diesel grey silicone in the past and vht copper coat.

having some between cylinder leak issues with new head gaskets, big chief heads shaved about 10-12 races ago (this is 706 NA motor), block is steel dart big m 2009.

 

weak or worn out head studs?

called dart and was probing for sealant answers and they brought up that I might be overpowering the head stud. i didn't tell him these were over 10 years old and I know if I called arp they would say changed them every time i pulled the head. does anyone have the real story of if head studs can weaken or wear out?

 

Are we talking water leaks or combustion leaks?

 

combustion leaks

combustion leaks between cylinders, heads oringed/block receiver groved

 

My answer to sealing the cylinder psi is o-ring and receiving groove, also making sure the pistons aren't tapping the heads. I do not rely on silicone, spray, etc to seal cylinder psi.
ARP cylinder head studs today are saying to torque to a higher # than really old head studs. To me this means the material is better which means you can torque more which means you have more clamping force.

Last but not least, if you are detonating, you aren't going to seal it...

PS Is the block flat, my inbetween cylinder surfaces go out of wack first also

 

Those old studs have probably stretched and also lost their tensile strength, time to get new ! definately o-ring and receiver grooves, chemical sealants will not stop combustion leaks.

 

studs

I talked with arp and asked them could my 10 year old stretch and they said only if we have overtorqured or hydrauliced the head. So my response was I thought torque spec was 75 and I just found on their website it is 80 so I haven't overtorqued. Was prepared to by new set but now I guess I will torque to 80 with the retorque after heat cycle because SCE says this is their recommendation although it seems probably only 50% of people do this.

 

On retorqueing, do you back the nut off and retorque or do you just retorque to the set ft/#.

 

Back off one at a time and retorque.

 

I have used the Hylomar spray for the past 3 seasons. Seems good. I had off and on problems with silicone leaking water.

Never felt I had a issue with leaking compression. Gaskets have some dark marks (mostly upwards) where some heat must be slipping by.

Greg gkelley@motorsportsinnovations.com
www.MotorSportsInnovations.com