Copper Head Gaskets On A Flatty?

OK, I have this Mercury flat head engine and it has Fenton Aluminum heads. I've heard its bad to use copper head gaskets with aluminum heads although plenty of folks do. I'm at the point where I have to bolt the heads on and I need head gaskets. What do I buy?

Spike

 

Unless you have too high a compression ratio or clearance issues, use a modern composit gasket. They seal better and just basically perform better.

Use the copper gaskets to get a little more space in the combustion chamber.

 

As far as I know the copper gaskets are only made for ‘’big bore’’ 120 + over, and are the only option.
Were is your bore at?

 

greg i had a set of big bore graph***e. used them for about ten minutes.. you know the rest of the story..

 

My engine is standard bore. Has anyone used the "Graph***e" gaskets from Speedway?

Spike

 

Spike...I just went through this with Jay's car. We didn't have much luck with the copper gaskets...but then again the heads weren't the best. Mikey can get you the gaskets for standard bore.
Clark

 

Same here. I only use the copper. Never had a problem with them.

 

I've used several sets of copper head gaskets on the motors we have done and no problem. Gonna use the composites on the one we're doing now because that's what the customer wants.

 

We put copper on our stock 8BA......10,000 miles and no problem.

 

I always use a composite gasket, but use a copper spray on both sides just prior to installation. This will seal if there are minor imperfections or differences between the block and head. Well over 40K on my engines and I've never popped a head gasket

 

my problem was not with the gaskets. the company that turned the crank left shot peen media in the oil gallies.(sp). you can imagine what happened.. they are taking care of everything. they sent me copper instead of graph***e. i guess im going to try them.. i have had luck the best gasket brand graph***e installed dry..

 

Youre talking SBC and Mopar tho, I wouldn't imagine those applications using copper gaskets. Seems most parts places use the copper for flatheads tho.

My friend put copper on his 50, installed it backwards first time (late at nite) so just be awake when you are doing it! After reinstall it worked out well but took up almost 2 full weekends!

 

The only problem with copper headgasket is that they dont do the greatest job of sealing water, but as far as sealing compression goes theres nothing better.

 

Copper is superior for sealing regardless of what motor it is. The soft copper will crush and form the seal, but because of it's metallic properties it is much less likely to be blown out by high cylinder pressures or even from heat. When I built the Yamaha R6 for my SAE team, we CNC milled the heads for copper o-rings so it would hold together with 14:1 compression and 10000+ rpm for extended periods. No problem. Copper gaskets are expensive though, and I can understand the point about them sealing with water. I can see how the Copper might even be better for a flathead since it would better transfer heat from the block to the aluminum heads and promote cooling.

 

For a stock flatty, Best brand gaskets are...well...the best! Seriously, they're a high-quality, modern head gasket and my choice for 8BA. For 59A-style engines, I prefer the Fel-Pro blue gaskets - sold by NAPA under the Victor-Reinz label (1026K I think), they are repackaged Fel-Pros.

Nothing wrong with copper other than harder to seal water...

 

you can get copper in both big bore and standard, as you can composite too.

I like copper as you can reuse them, just spray them with some silver paint. I have used my set a few times. I just dry fire the motor twice and re-torque the heads inbetween before then fill with water, I have found this decreases the leak factor. I also use a stud sealer on the bolts.

I have used composite gaskets previously with a copper spray, only problem is you only get one use out of them. - I'm a tight ****.