cool, thanks for the quick reply. I was just curious, mine aren't bad YET but, I don't plan on selling it any time soon so eventually I'll get the pleasure of tearing it apart for a hg job. Even though it's a ton of work and always a pain to have to do these more major repairs, I'm sort of (in a way) looking forward to checking out the rest of what you can see in there with the valley pan out and the heads off. I did the rocker arms recently and couldn't believe how clean it is in that engine with 137,000 miles on it. It may not be the original engine but, it could be. It's got some miles on it for sure judging by the condition of the rocker shafts. Fortunately some time shortly before i bought it, the previous owner had replaced the oil pump and the water pump. That's kind of the reason I decided to buy it. Not sure when the head gaskets were done last but it was pretty well kept for the year and milage. So I guess mine would probably end up being just the hg and valley pan and maybe a few other odds and ends... hopefully!!!

 

Did you use the composite hg's or just the regular ones? I was wondering which is the best option. I've read that the composite ones seal better but, couldn't find any info. on durability or anything. do they last longer, shorter, the same, any problems they cause when compared with the stock ones??? I don't really know anything about them so any info. would be great, thanks!

 

Replacement parts came from Atlantic British (composite). I have heard Will Tillery has them for less but I'm not sure what they're made of.

The composite gaskets do seal better -- and are supposed to last longer. If you get a good (even) torque on all the head bolts you should bs good for a long time. It's kind of a hot topic, but I combined the Rave method of torque to angle (90 + 90 degree turns) and DiscoMike's method of torque to yield. There's a whole other thread about that though...

 

Yeah, I've read it. What do you mean you combined the two diffeent ways of doing it?