Would thicker head gaskets give me more insurance against coolant leak?

[Great68]

Hi everyone,

As you know I just put AFR's on my car, with the Felpro 1101-2 head gaskets.
Which are the 0.039 compressed thickness.

I got the car started and running beautifully but much to my chagrin I noticed coolant leaking out the rear of the passenger's side head.

It was definately leaking out between the block and the head, because when I put my fingernail in between the head and the block coolant would dribble on my finger.

All my bolts were torqued to 70ft/lbs, and I used plenty of ARP thread sealer on the lower head bolts.

I took everything apart again, and looked at the head gasket and noticed no visible damage.

The ARP installation manual specifies a Felpro 1101-1 gasket, which has a compressed thickness of 0.041. The parts store said to use the 1101-2's because they are supposedly stronger.

But my question, would the extra thickness going to be extra insurance against it leaking again? Or should I just get another 1101-2 and try again?

Your advice is greatly appreciated, I'm about to kick my car.

 

[rbohm]

first i would check the block deck and the head surface for warpage, and damage. second i would use the gasket that afr recomended.

 

[bud4660]

Thicker gaskets drops the compression. I have seen people use Permatex Copper Spray-A-Gasket on the gaskets to prevent leaks. I always dump some Bars-Leak in my motors if anything alum is used. Like intakes or heads. Some people dont like it. But I have been doing it for 30+ years and never had a problem or leaks.

 

[10secgoal]

I would just go to autozone or a discount and buy the stock replacement man. It comes with a sealer on it already. It should have NO problems sealing unless there are problems somewhere else.

P.S. while you have those heads or that head of, heli-coil the exhuast or you WILL be sorry later.

 

[Hack]

Thicker gaskets drops the compression. I have seen people use Permatex Copper Spray-A-Gasket on the gaskets to prevent leaks. I always dump some Bars-Leak in my motors if anything alum is used. Like intakes or heads. Some people dont like it. But I have been doing it for 30+ years and never had a problem or leaks.

The factory puts a cooling system sealer in new cars to this day. Whether or not aluminum is used, I think Bars Leaks is a good idea. You know that the original factory charge of sealer is long gone on a 30 year old car.

I add sealer on every coolant change. You'll find that many shops also do it as a matter of course.