I want to turbocharge a 401 for my 66 GS and wondering what gasket others are having best luck with? Wanting to push it push it a little.
what is your boost and hp goal? I do not think fel-pro makes a multilayer gasket but I did run a composite head gasket and don't hold me to it but i want to say it was .043 ..
the best gasket is the old steel gasket..... good luck on finding some of them......:Brow: any nailhead is about 1 full point less than the advertised C R due to factory tolerances....even with the thin factory steel gaskets.... you will have to do your ciphering to come up with the actual CR on your engine.... the block has to be decked, the heads cc'd ect.... and on and on.... back in the late 60's when the blueprinting started some guys were coming up with some real gains by going thru their engines and bringing them to perfect specs... and if you are serious about it , that is what you do....but it is expensive unless you do the most of it yourself.....:Smarty:
The best bet would be a MLS gasket, but I don't think any are available for the Nailhead. Maybe you could check with the manufacturers to see if they have or will release them. We run 25 pounds of boost with those gaskets at .035" thickness in the Ford, and many run 30 or more pounds with the stock MLS gasket. You can also run a composite gasket and O-ring the block for more compression. We ran a 462 that way at 13:1 compression after blowing out some new Cometics. Others had run them at over 14:1 compression that way. It is more-so for copper head gaskets, but works with composite gaskets. The composites have far less issues sealing the coolant passages then copper. TA Performance has the .020" steel shim gasket in stock for the Nailhead if you wish to go that route. The original Nailhead steel shims were closer to .015" as there are a "few" sets around here. Cheryl
You will prob think Im crazy but want to run 9's in a full weight 66 GS. Im thinking 16 psi and 750 hp at the flywheel should do it. ---------- Post added at 09:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 AM ---------- Thanks! Yea I already sent a message to Best gaskets, and will speak with sce monday. I have thought about the Oring and composit gasket as well I have built a few high compression 455's as well with that setup and one was sprayed with a 250 shot a couple times. I run a factory crank, pistons, and rod 6.0L LS in my 72 Nova 76mm turbo@23-25psi with the factory LS9 mls gaskets. Car runs 8.3/164 on a 275 radial driven to the track. I wish I could get a gasket like that for this deal. I wonder what 3 shim gaskets would act like stacked.
I don't think 9's are crazy.. just real fast... With the right setup it could be done but with my setup i wont be that fast. Let me know if you have any luck with the mls.. i would be intested in some sets for my turbo Nailhead. Are you running a twin or a single turbo setup? Upper control arms and steering arm clearance and is where i had some issues. Shouldn't be to hard to keep everything package under the stock hood. Are you going with solid motor mounts? Whats your plan for a trans? th400- 4l80e? i thought about installing a kit and going to a 4l80e.. i am stepping up my turbo size either to 80mm or a 88mm from a 67mm but i am running a single turbo with 2.5 crossover piping. thinking of going from a t4 to a t6 also .hopefully by the end of the week i will have everything worked out. good luck with the build
I don't think 9's are crazy.. just real fast... With the right setup it could be done but with my setup i wont be that fast. Let me know if you have any luck with the mls.. i would be intested in some sets for my turbo Nailhead. Are you running a twin or a single turbo setup? Upper control arms and steering arm clearance and is where i had some issues. Shouldn't be to hard to keep everything package under the stock hood. Are you going with solid motor mounts? Whats your plan for a trans? th400- 4l80e? i thought about installing a kit and going to a 4l80e.. i am stepping up my turbo size either to 80mm or a 88mm from a 67mm but i am running a single turbo with 2.5 crossover piping. thinking of going from a t4 to a t6 also .hopefully by the end of the week i will have everything worked out. I attached a picture of how I ran my piping in my 1966 skylark gs good luck Paul
Im still trying to decide which way to go on the head gaskets but debating stacking the shim gaskets. Not to lower compression but for strength I think it could be stronger. I need a set of the thin gaskets for my Dad's 401 that I am putting together. Please pm me a price for s set. ---------- Post added at 08:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:33 PM ---------- Sweet build that you have there! Is car black? Think I have actually seen pictures of it around on the internet when searching "turbocharged Nailhead". Im planning on running a single brog warner S475 with a T4 flange on this build. That turbo pushed my Nova to 158 mph on 6.0L so hopefully it can do 138-140 on this deal. I have a Th400 that I will prob convert to non switch and run a yank py3000 torque converter like I run in my truck with 2.73-3.08 gears. Stock exh manifold on drivers side and log header manifold in pass side. Crossover will run underneith oil pan into rear of log header then turbo will mount to front of log header about where yours is. Waste gate goes into crossover underneith engine so it's out of sight. Next thing Im worried about is the factory dual plane manifold. If distributation is good it should be ok if not it's going to be a problem. About all you can do is keep it on the rich side and hope for the best. Lol ---------- Post added at 08:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ---------- Sweet build that you have there! Is car black? Think I have actually seen pictures of it around on the internet when searching "turbocharged Nailhead". Im planning on running a single brog warner S475 with a T4 flange on this build. That turbo pushed my Nova to 158 mph on 6.0L so hopefully it can do 138-140 on this deal. I have a Th400 that I will prob convert to non switch and run a yank py3000 torque converter like I run in my truck with 2.73-3.08 gears. Stock exh manifold on drivers side and log header manifold in pass side. Crossover will run underneith oil pan into rear of log header then turbo will mount to front of log header about where yours is. Waste gate goes into crossover underneith engine so it's out of sight. Next thing Im worried about is the factory dual plane manifold. If distributation is good it should be ok if not it's going to be a problem. About all you can do is keep it on the rich side and hope for the best. I used the orig motor mounts from this car on a 65 GS that I sold a few years back and have not had much luck sourcing the plates, mounts ect so going to build them. I will prob end up using sbc frame pads and polly mounts, then build a plate that bolts onto engine where the sbc mounts can be used.
I don't think stacking the gaskets will make them any stronger. More than likely will cause more problems I feel. We were running about 13.5-1 on the steel shim gaskets but used Hypolar gasket sealer. With the Hypolar sealer we have used the same shim gaskets a few (3) times, but I wouldn't go any more than that. Tom T.
If you think the shim gasket will hold I will give it a try. My dad used to run a supercharged nailhead in his race boat back in the early 70's and said he ran the steel gaskets. He ended up blowing it up but not sure what happened I think it was some kind of hoaky stroker and crank broke after they poured nitro in it lol. I just figured they would work more like a mls when stacked. A mls looks like a bunch of shim gaskets in a pack all rivited together.
In the old days , if we got one into the shop that kept popping head gaskets, we would clean the block and head real good , and then spray a heavy coat of alluminum paint on 2 steel gaskets both sides and then put it back together and tork it down.... let it set overnight , then fire the engine up , letting it idle untill it warmed up and then retork.... 99.99% of the time it cured the gasket popping.... but,,, after that , you almost had to have a cutting torch to get the heads off again....:laugh:
They use them on the GN's but are made from high grade stainless. I tore down a Stock low compression BBC a few years ago that had them. Guy had been spraying a 200 shot on it for 100 yd sand drags. Gaskets were pretty torched. ..:/. Thing was making a bit less power than I plan on making. Maybe he detonated it or something tho who knows. The cast Pistons looked fine still.
There is no gasket in the world that will hold up to a bad tune, it is not HP that kills parts it is bad tune 95% of the time... Some guys are using regular $5 fel-pro head gaskets on 800 HP SBC engines and they live fine... Use studs and torque them properly and if the tune is right you should have no issues I would think... I realize you are not a newbie to this boosted stuff so do not feel like i am talking down to you... Just my opinion thats all... You have just been spoiled with un-limited access to low cost stuff for the BBC and LS engines.... Welcome to the boosted Buick world... And I know you are not new to the Buick world....
Yea I hear you and agree 100% on the tune. My Ls engine is actually stock pistons, crank, rods, heads, and GM gaskets but it does have a MLS gasket stock. It's currently the 1/4 mile stock bottom end LS record holder but there are a couple light weight ls swap mustangs that are going to blow past me any day here lol. The LS is the only platform that I have ran with forced induction. All my experience with the BBC, SBC's, Buicks, and Pontiacs etc has been NA. I've built several hot 455's but never twisted the tail on a nailhead. Now another question I pulled down a 1965 401 and factory gasket measures 4.200'', and was hanging into bore at top above chauffeur. Is this how these gaskets are or is there something hoaky going on here? I need to take this thing out to at least .030' maybe more to clean up.
I have a set of Felpro blues here that look a lot better than the "Best" gaskets. Were you running the O rings with felpro's? The 455's I used with O ring were a little different they were all blue. These are blue on top, and plain metal on bottom. Thing looks like it's begging for 16 psi of boost lol
