I'm concerned whether or not I purchased the correct cylinder head gasket for my head replacement job.

I purchased a Fel-Pro embossed steal shim gasket with the rubber coating applied. The gasket is .015 thick. With the gasket, the instructions say that it should be used on only absolutely perfectly smooth services. I am installing brand new cast iron heads, and my short block is the original 77 LM1 350, with 30k original miles, and this is the first time the original heads have been off. In other words, the block deck has never been touched.

Do you guys think I'm taking a risk with this steal shim type gasket? Or, should I go with the conventional composition type for typical rebuilds.

My idea was to go with as thin a gasket as possible as to help boast compression a bit.

Also, whats the best places for applying some sealer.

Thanks.

Hey Adam, the answer really depends on a case by case scenario as far if you will be ok. Really Fel pro is covering their butt some, they do say that on pretty much all gaskets. But the .015 shim does leave less room for factory tolerance. But if the heads are milled you will more than likely be safe. It is very important to torque a steel shim gasket from the center out. And you will need to go back thru several times on the first setting just to set the gasket. In other words I start at 30 lbs in the center and work my way out in a circular pattern. Go over it a second time and you will notice that the center bolts have to go more again before they click. It will take about 3 times till all of them are set. Then go up to say 50 pounds then 65. I like the permatex liquid teflon for the head bolt threads and 30 wt oil on the underside of the bolt head. Also use some head bolt washers. The gaskets do not need any sealer, but I always wipe a thin bead on the end of the gasket where it goes up to where it meets the intake manifold. I have used many Detroit ( now Corteco) .019 stainless gaskets on non decked blocs with good results. They also offer a .028 thick composition gasket.