Hi, For a stock performing 430ci i am looking for Head Gaskets. I do have the original thin steel ones on my 1969 Riviera, but i find out during replacing my valve seals that cylinder 3 and 5 are leaking to eachother. Is there a difference in stock performance when i use the standard Fel-Pro's 400-430-455 replacement set? Thank you!
The .040" Felpro gasket will reduce your compression ratio, And increase the quench distance of the piston / head. Check your head for straightness, its probably warped and needs to be machined flat.
Thanks. The .020" steel head gaskets are $150.00 at TA Performance. I thought $60.00 would be okay. I guess i have to get the Fel-Pro's if i can't find the thin ones for an "average" price...
I sell the Steel shim head gaskets for most Buick engines including the 455. The NOS 430 steel gaskets go for $125- a pair.
Okay thanks, i think i will use a McChord set that i still have from years ago...and see how it performs/drives with a bit less compression...
Does not matter how much gaskets cost if the block and heads are not perfect. Plain old felpro blues are best, i just went thru this with my 13-1 comp iron head race motor, i spent a fortune on "orange crushes" just to find out i had to take 8-thou off the block and heads. Take the heads to a good machine shop, and check the block surface make sure it is flat. I had the gaskest blow between 4-6 and 5-3 like you. Just advice from being there.
I agree Dave! Had a friend that did his heads when a gasket failed. He refused to spend the little money to have the resurfaced. Then he replaced the gaskets again. I was amazed that time when he just assumed he didn't install properly the first time and still didn't take the heads to have them checked. He blew another. This time he still refused to carry his heads to the machine shop and just bought another set. No problems after that but he was just lucky IMO since he didn't know anything about the heads he bought.
btw, i saw that i have push rods with oiling holes in them (1969 430ci)...i believe that my old 1968 430ci did not have the holes in the push rods...was there a difference in those two years?
67-69 400/430 pushrods are solid and have 3/8"s ball ends. If the pushrods are not solid someone put them in there perhaps to use the later oil through pushrod method. Ray
This could potentially be opening up a can of worms. If the '67-'69 lifters are in there it might be ok, as they are missing the oiling hole in the lifter cup, so the hollow pushrods won't see any oil feed anyway. If later lifters were used, without the proper mods there could be too much oil going to the rockers since they'd be fed both from the pedestals and the pushrods. Devon
Okay thanks. So if i understand you right. The hollow pushrods i have now in my 1969 430ci are not the pushrods it came with from the factory in 1969??
