Marine Head Gasket?

[Begle1]

So the shop that is going to O-ring and resurface my head says that they need a new headgasket to properly calibrate their machine. (That's normal?)

What are the options regarding head gaskets? Are the marine headgaskets the way to go, or should I send him something else?

[Fnschlaud4620]

IMHO, I would think that it would be better to send the head to a shop that does a lot of cummins heads. Unless they are doing it for 1/2 the cost of the common shops, which is usually $300.00 or so. I would feel better knowing I would be getting proven work. I am not saying the shop you picked doesn't know what there are doing. But if they did, shouldn't they know which head gasket to use?

[Begle1]

What shops are those? Scheids, Haisley and PDR? Anybody else?

I am not saying the shop you picked doesn't know what there are doing. But if they did, shouldn't they know which head gasket to use?

I kind of paused at that for a second too, but I didn't know if that was normal procedure or not.

Kotzur Racing Heads in San Antonio asked for $350 for resurfacing and O-ringing.

[Fnschlaud4620]

For your area of the country I would try Industrial Injection. they may be able to do it or recomend a good shop that can in that area.

Industrial Injection & Turbo Service
1201 South 700 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
Phone: 800-955-0476 or 801-972-0476

[DTanklage]

cut the groove in the deck of the block - instead of the head

jmo

or better yet, dont o-ring at all...

[Begle1]

I would really like to cut the groove into the head, considering that I have a spare head and that wouldn't take any down time. I think it's also quite a bit cheaper to do, isn't it?

What would you recommend over O-rings? I wasn't aware that there were any other options when it came to over 50-60 PSI?

Industrial Injection doesn't do in-house O-ringing, but they did recommend me shops in St. George, Henderson and Las Vegas that I can call tomorrow.

[DTanklage]

you have 2 heads

one block

see where i am going with this?

don

ps - the machine shop around the corner charges 20 bucks a hole to o-ring. he does excellent work and i use him a lot (boring, decking, o-rings, hot honing with torque plate, etc) i dont understand 300-$350 to o-ring 6 cyl engine

[Begle1]

you have 2 heads

one block

see where i am going with this?

I really don't see where you're going...
Has "this" been done before?

ps - the machine shop around the corner charges 20 bucks a hole to o-ring. he does excellent work and i use him a lot (boring, decking, o-rings, hot honing with torque plate, etc) i dont understand 300-$350 to o-ring 6 cyl engine

Kotzur is the best price I've found yet, and they want $300 to just resurface and O-ring, then the rings themselves are another $50. Doesn't strike me as too bad.

Scheids wants $240 to machine the grooves and then $92 to resurface the head.

You live in Huntington Beach, California? Do you have any information for your head guy? I have family out there.

[DTanklage]

yea, its been done before - if you o-ring the block you can switch heads and or resurface a head without messing with the o-rings - that is where i was goin with that

his name is 'yo'

i have heard people at the track describe his shop as "one of the best kept secrets in so cal"

if you really want to send your head there i can get the info but arent you gonna spend more on frieght than you save?

[Begle1]

if you really want to send your head there i can get the info but arent you gonna spend more on frieght than you save?

I learned this morning that the eBay seller is charging a flat rate for continental US shipping , so it wouldn't cost any more to ship it to Huntington Beach than it would to ship it to Henderson, San Antonio or Saint George. And if it's in Huntington Beach, I could have somebody I know hold onto it until next time I'm in SoCal. So I'd be really grateful for any information that you could give me, even just a name to look up in the white pages.

Is there a performance or price difference in cutting the rings into the block instead of the head? I was under the impression that the only guys who cut the holes in the block, cut holes into the block and the head in order to hold north of 80 PSI.

[DTanklage]

the owner is yo

i will try to drive by there tomorrow and get the address for you

if you ring the block it will be ringed no matter what head you put on it

(you only have to do it once that way no matter how many times you switch heads)

[roxxx]

In past with gassers i had to provide head gaskets to make sure compression was right if not and they might mill to much of head or deck the compression goes up, and valve clearance is compromised. Even more so in the diesel

[DTanklage]

...Even more so in the diesel

it would be better to lower the compression, not raise it

esp w/ twins and over 80 psi boost

[Begle1]

In past with gassers i had to provide head gaskets to make sure compression was right if not and they might mill to much of head or deck the compression goes up, and valve clearance is compromised. Even more so in the diesel

Aren't our heads pretty flat, though? I wouldn't mind loosing a couple points off of the compression ratio, if it'd be that easy...

So what are the pros and cons of the marine head gasket?
Is there a performance or price difference in getting rings cut into the block instead of the head?

[DTanklage]

all cyl heads start out flat but heat cycles (and esp overheating) change that over time

it used to be that you wanted a semi rough surface (dont know the microns, but rougher than stock) to help grab the gasket material and seal better

probably takes longer to set up when you are gonna cut the groove in the head vs having the cyl bores (rd holes) there to locate the tooling so yea, it might be more exp if you go that route

i already told you what the perf adv is - you can switch heads or resurface your head w/o messin with the wire