felpro flathead gaskets.wet or dry?

quick question about flathead felpro gaskets,do you use a gasket sealer or go on dry? The felpro website isnt around for the info.Also how much over bore before you go to big bore gaskets?..thanks

 

If it is a diaper gasket (composit) and not a shim gasket it goes on dry.

Lay the gasket on the block of the bore is bigger then the hole on the gasket go to a big bore gasket. The cylinder seals with that little ring on a composit gasket, you want to make sure that it has enough meat to seal against the block.

 

Grease liberally slathered on all 4 surfaces is often used for both composites & laminates. Also makes them easier to unstick if/when disassembled. As always, torque & re-torque often.

Jack E/NJ

 

do the fel pro gaskets that go on dry,are they impregnated with something so they seal and adhere to the block?..and is it common with a new gasket job to have very tiny droplets of water where the block meets the head until it seals with the routine torque cycles?

 

Fel Pro usually tells you, at least they used to on the individual head gasket package.

 

There wasn't any info on the gasket at all

 

"Best" states that their composite gaskets were intended to install dry but that you can also use a sealant of your choice. I have used them both ways but normally spray them when using aftermarket alloy heads. And yes, some have seeped a little during initial start-up but ceased within a short time, normally after re-torque.

 

Just to add, I was a boiler mechanic, at a steam powerplant, and I still sit in on presentations where manufacturers tout their products. 3M, Garlock, Flexitallic and about every maker of graphite, Carbon and synthetic gasket material always say the same thing: "Can be used with or without a sealant"

 

thanks tommy,appreciate the response,i have one more torque cycle to go through and i wil retorque down the road

 

I hate to hijack your thread man, but I'm new to flatty's and have one in the garage waiting for a rebuild, can you elaborate one the "torque cycle?"

 

When I used sealant on a hemi with studs I had to use pry bars to get the head back off.Without sealant they came off much easier. Did it both ways and the same resut as far as sealing (that's what gaskets do). All shop manuals say to run the engine for a while and retorque the heads or so I think.