If you haven't read it. there is a ton of info on how my season ended in a thread called " What a way to end the season." Pulled the motor and trans last night to begin diagnosis, and get things ready for the new shortblock.

Fastmop was right in the previous post. My bone stock 318, with .390 lift camshaft, and 6 lbs of boost, ANNIHILATED a one day old Fel Pro 1008 Headgasket. Ill get a picture of the headgasket, because I was blown away to see how bad it was, it pushed the fire ring out towards the intake valley at least a half an inch or more, which then sucked oil into the cylinder big time, creating the massive blow by I was seeing. So the good news is, my cast piston 318 was still holding up fine, but the head gaskets have been an issue so far.

I plan to have the cylinder heads and the deck checked and fixed as needed, and stud the heads before reassembling with Forged pistons and H beam rods. My big dilemma right now is whether to try Cometics, which I hear many people have used with massive success, or to try O-rings and Copper, and deal with the possibility of leaks .. So whats everyone think? I know what Turbocuda will say Who else has experience with big horsepower boosted small blocks?

 

FelPro MLS?

 

Was that a suggestion? or a question? LOL, no they were not MLS, just the standard high Performance Fel Pro 1008's. As far as I know, Fel Pro doesn't offer an MLS SB Mopar gasket. Cometics are MLS, which is why im considering them ...

 

I guess my question would be why _wouldn't_ you try the MLS's before spending all the money on o ringing?

 

At this point im leaning towards cometics, but I dont want to be ripping this thing back apart again, id rather Ron Popeil this thing, you know " Set it, and Forget it!" hahaha So im still considering doing the O-rings, if its going to give me piece of mind or added insurance. I hope to turn the boost up into the mid to high teen's at least a couple times, and want this thing to be basically bulletproof ..

 

copper will show signs of detonation...cometics won't..use the right sealant and coppers won't leak.

 

i had fel pro 1008 hold up to 10#s seem to have problem over 12#s but with arp bolts not studs in final i went o-ring and copper and studs then melted a piston because i turned the boost up and for got to turn boost retard up too learned a hard lesson don't get greedy

 

Heres the results of 6 PSI on a one day old Fel Pro 1008 .. and 11.5 to 1, and 23 degrees timing, on 92 octane .. no signs of detonation ..

#ad


#ad

 

I'd prolly try the cometics and take some timeing out of it. Is it the same side or same cyl's blowing? ARP studs would be a good option as well.

 

Your problem sounds exactly like mine. I had a stock compression 318 running 10 psi and blew out a pair of Fel-Pros and a pair of Cometics in the exact same place yours did. After the Cometics blew we took a closer look at my block and found cracks along the head bolt holes/water passages. It may be coincidence, but I would definitely have that block checked out. I'm running a different block now with Cometics and ARP studs and (knock on wood) have had no issues yet. I also highly recommend the copper gasket spray.

 

If thye make a FelPro MLS they rock well beyond the Cometics.
We have switched lot and lot of customers to FelPro and FIXED
our Cometic head gasket issues.
WE have use FelPro's up to 34psi+ with no problem and no o-ring.

 

Topfuel, in the second photo which shows the piston as well it appears that you have a piston to valve issue also.

What comp and timing were you running??

cheers

 

Were the deck and heads properly machined? My friends have had many sbms with truly poor quality oem machining. So bad that it's a miracle that they didn't push original headgaskets out in na mode!
On the other hand I had last summer one 318 with 360 heads with just the original machining and it had 1008s and 13 psi and it held up just fine. So, it's a matter of luck too I think

 

will i have learned it is the tune not luck!

 

The motor was out of an 89 Diplomat Police car, and therefore heavily abused im sure. Its a completely stock bottom end, including the .390 lift camshaft, so Piston to Valve Clearance isn't an issue, and it obviously had a previous issue with some piece of broken valvetrain hitting the piston, but obviously I never knew that until the heads came off. The bores look really sweet though, with ZERO ridge, so im sure it was gone through by city mechanics at some point. At any rate, the bottom end is still perfectly fine. It has held up to 7 lbs of boost with no issues, other than pushing gaskets. The deck and heads will be squared before re-assembly, with forged pistons and H=beam rods. Then the boost will go to 16....

It had 11.5 to 1 AF at WOT on the LM1 wideband, and 23 degrees timing, with 92 octane. It didn't push gaskets from the tune. Shitty surfaces and hardware more than anything im sure.

 

23 Degrees of timing seems pretty agressive for 92 octane. We run 23 degrees with 118 octane, but not 92. I would lean in that direction, and back the timing down to 17-18 when you get it back together, and deck everything, especially if you turn up the boost. Good luck, and have fun, no one likes to change head gaskets!!

 

You run 118 octane and 23 degrees with 6 lb's of boost? I think your combo is quite a bit more radical than mine, and not on 6 lb's ..

 

I run 28* at 7 lbs of boost. 7.4:1 comp open chamber iron heads.

 

I run 26* with 6 lbs on a stock iron headed 86 318. But that's with propane, wich is somewhere around 100 octane.

 

Who has blown the head gaskets???? Just trying to provide some insight....maybe you'll need to run a little less timing, and check head and block surfaces.