MTFCA Forum

Apparently copper clad head gaskets are in short supply and nobody is certain when more will become available.

Because I'd like to get back on the road sometime before Thanksgiving I'm exploring the other options, which seem to be either the steel head gasket or the silicone head gasket.

Will either of these work with a stock iron head? What, if any, are the pros and cons?

Thanks

I have used steel and sprayed copper coat ---has been working great for years .

john

That's what I did, when I learned of the shortage and had to put my engine together, last month. I'm not worried about it.

Most important thing is to have the crushable metal around the combustion chambers. The water jacket holes can be sealed with heat resistant sealer, but the metal around the cylinders will keep in the compression.
Norm

My last couple of gaskets have been the silicone overlay steel ring gaskets. Seem to work good for me with a high compression (7.25:1) aluminum head

Down side is you have to scrape em off piece by piece every time you take the head off. Always keep 1 or 2 on the shelf...

The head on my car has a small crack in the top of the water jacket. I recently obtained a good replacement and will have it surfaced before installing it. I intend to use a silicone head gasket since I have two in the shop. I won't have the block's deck ground flat since the engine is in the car. Will the silicone gasket accommodate minor flatness variations in the deck? I have not removed the old head so I don't know how flat the block is. I suppose that I will be the first to know if it seals unless others have experience with this.