I'm following Baddad457's advice on this entire head gasket thing (Fel-Pro 9333-pt1 gaskets and copper coat aresol paint.) He's running a motor similar to mine and speaks with considerable confidence and experience. I could have PM'd him but I also wanted general perspectives on how much paint to use. Baddad457 - what's your opinion on spray-on-copper-coat vs silver/chrome-spray-paint?
Aluminum has nothing to do with it...its just good practice. Kinda like chasing the blind threads with a flat bottom tab.
X3,256,852,789 Permatorque gaskets and no sealer. Ever. Iron heads/iron block....aluminum heads/iron block....aluminum heads/aluminum blocks. Sealer is for shim gaskets or builders too lazy to get the decks right.
Or for an average Joe like me who isn't building a full on race motor but just wants an affordable option that seals well. If the only right way is the best way, I might as well jump to Cometics and studs and have the block deck and head surfaces milled... Of course at that point I should come to grips with the fact my Pro-Comp heads aren't exactly up to snuff and get AFR or Trick-Flow heads... At which point I'll need a new carb and intake... And the snowball keeps rolling...
Never used the silver/chrome paint. I also wouldn't use it on Felpro's Permatorque (I'm thinkin on the older Permatorque Blue gaskets here) gaskets. Or on their P.O.S. (Print-O-Seal or the more common interpretation of this) It DOES work well on the O.E. type expanded graphite head gaskets. As for Shadowmaster's comment about not having the decks "right" that's pure B.S. The engine I had the failures on had both the block decks and the head decks surfaced prior to assembly. The POS gaskets simply didn't hold a seal when the engine was overheated, just as the 3.8 gasket failures occured.
to be fair they can be strait as a whistle and still not seal(head gasket) heads and block.....these days they have to have a certain smoothness(the term escapes me at the moment) or they will leak as well.....which ultimately was a huge factor in those 3.8L ford motors..... You can machine the heads and the block and even some very well known for good work machinist can still flub the smoothness factor.....most of them didn't even know until after several issues that it was so important these days.... Myself I do not coat any non MLS gaskets....I have used High temp alum paint on a few high hp 600 plus neon 4 cyl build ups w arp studs with great results.....used the cooper coat on a mitsubishi turbo build.....again all MLS gaskets..... Been fine on all accounts unless there was another issue......
There's such a thing as "too smooth" as in the aftermarket chrome parts (namely thermostat housings) that no matter what gasket or goop you use, the chrome is simply too slick to get a seal with. Rough up the gasket surface and they're fine. Same thing with head gaskets. The Print-O-Seal type gaskets have had more than their share of failures in other applications too, like in the 360-390-428 Fords when used for the intake gaskets.
Ya know I found most of those t-stat housings to be warped.... I tend to take em to the belt sander like I do a set of headers at the flange... Still there is no denying those t-stat housings are pain seal.....
