head sealing surface on a block

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I gotta ask its really bugging me, everyone says surfaces must be spotless for a mls head gasket and I don't want to f this up.

I took a scotch brite pad to the block and what I thought was leftover gasket material looks like it might be pitts around the water holes (jackets?) on the block. Has anyone ever had this problem, and do I need to worry about it? What should I do? I've already shaved .02" off the head.

[Zanzer]

Man! If you took off .020" with Scotchbrite you were really giving it the beans!! :mrgreen:

Just messing with you I think you meant .002". Were you doing this by hand or using the pad on a die grinder?

Typically you want the cleanest and most planar surface you can get and that usually means getting the block decked. With that being said, I usually don't deck my blocks unless they look terrible or if it's something that is going to see rough service. You can use a long board sander with fine grit paper to ensure the block deck surface is smooth and even. I've used many block with some tiny pits left in the block surface after cleaning without any problems. If you want to be extra cautious you can spray the gasket with copper coat before installing and it should help seal any small imperfections.

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Lol..I had the head milled .02" when they did a 3 way valve job. I hope I haven't taken any metal off the block with the scotch brite pad! I was just doing it by hand.

[Zanzer]

You'll get better results with the Scothbrite on a die grinder or a sander with fine paper. However, a sander is usually much more even than using Scotchbrite by hand or on a die grinder.

But if you went to the trouble and paid the money to have the head decked and a 3 angle valve job then I would say why cheap out on the block and not have it decked too.

[scitzz]

You'll get better results with the Scothbrite on a die grinder or a sander with fine paper. However, a sander is usually much more even than using Scotchbrite by hand or on a die grinder.

But if you went to the trouble and paid the money to have the head decked and a 3 angle valve job then I would say why cheap out on the block and not have it decked too.

My first thought would be compression in a gas crazy world! What octane is he gonna have to run?

X2 on the copper sealant....

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93 octane anyways... even the stock gasket is multi layer steel and your not supposed to use copper spray on those

[scitzz]

I learned the trick from Festyboy, supposed to work like a charm...I accept his word without trial in the matter, though. Since he has been right so far...

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lol.. I heard about it from Arty too.. he talked for like 5 minutes about the benefits of copper spray at the last meet. if you think he's excitable online you should see his eyes light up when he talks about copper spray.................

[scitzz]

lol.. I heard about it from Arty too.. he talked for like 5 minutes about the benefits of copper spray at the last meet. if you think he's excitable online you should see his eyes light up when he talks about copper spray.................

If you mean madness5, I was there too

Madness 3 is where I get the quote, you should see his eyes light up when you approach a wiring harness with a knife....

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naw...the fall ohiosteva premeet, the Zulusteva we had in january?

[scitzz]

Oh heck naw, Zulu ministries was initiated at madness 5!

But yeah, Arty was an ardent proponent of copper spray in October. I have used it on exhaust manifolds, but not on a head gasket yet. I trust him until evidence is presented that proves him wrong...

[Zanzer]

My first thought would be compression in a gas crazy world! What octane is he gonna have to run?

X2 on the copper sealant....

I know the secret to fixing that problem. I've ran a 12:1 429 big block on 93 octane pump gas without any issues :mrgreen:

But ya, with gas prices the way they are 93 octane is quickly becoming the new expensive race fuel :sad:

93 octane anyways... even the stock gasket is multi layer steel and your not supposed to use copper spray on those

Copper spray should be fine on an MLS. It's no different than applying it on a solid copper head gasket

[scitzz]

I know the secret to fixing that problem. I've ran a 12:1 429 big block on 93 octane pump gas without any issues :mrgreen:

But ya, with gas prices the way they are 93 octane is quickly becoming the new expensive race fuel :sad:



Copper spray should be fine on an MLS. It's no different than applying it on a solid copper head gasket

Well, cough it up, man! What is the secret?

And, yes, I was thinking 93 is mighty steep for a festy....

I can think of no issue for sopper spray on a festy head gasket, I look forward to trying it!

[iceracerdude]

The point of the copper is three fold. One, technicaly, the head does "move" around or float with the temp changes, so the copper spray helps with that. Two, the most obvious, it helps to seal the surface imperfections like you're describing. Three, there's a so called heat factor benefit involved. Google it.
There's actually a "polishing" standard involved with MLS gasketing, a way they measure the surface's sheen, a minumum the engineer's expect so to speak.
When you get to the point you're really blowing the crazy turbo pressures like those rally cars do, even more so than the drag racing guys (because they expect to rebuild their engines in terms of quarters of miles) that surface really becomes critical.
Just work it with silcone carbon sand paper on a "flat block" till you get into the thousands on the sand paper 1,500, or 2,000!?
I'm more worried about you and that torque wrench when that time comes around. In fact we need to start a thread about "reading" the torque wrench markings.

[iceracerdude]

...But ya, with gas prices the way they are 93 octane is quickly becoming the new expensive race fuel :sad:

No, I beg to differ, I've got a "premium car" and got gas yesterday. The premium has been a dime more a gallon for the longest time, same with the mid grade, a dime more than 87, but it's now only a fews cents more per gallon! I don't remember exactly, but I want to say only 5 or 6 cents diff now! reads BONUS

Also read the "ethanol subsidies" dried up 4 months ago and so there's now more "pure" gasoline becoming more prevelant in a lot of the stations, also BONUS!
You KNOW your mileage is going to increase with that factor.
Now that I got rid of the three inches of tow in at the back of my Spec V, I've already seen a 2 mile per gal. jump in mileage!
In 6th gear, @ 60 going into town, I average 37.5!
It's bittersweet for me though, I love the increased mileage, but I'm still P.O. about the previous towed in issue. I know, let it go