Hey Info

[Sleek-Jet]

I gotta question about head gaskets...
Will the cometic (composit???) gaskets seal an o-ringed block without an o-ring, in a normally aspirated motor???? Or will I need to buy some wire???
I wish I would have known I could machine off the wire in the block, I would have had that done at the time I did the block, but oh well...

[Moneypitt]

Is the hole in the gasket round and does it cover the grooves?.Are the grooves round? If the gasket is like the felpro shape it will expose the grooves at certain points in the front and back, so they'll have to be filled, even if you just overlap the the gasket and take the wire down flush. I too, wish I would have just cut all the wire flush, hindsight is 20-20........MP

[steelcomp]

Sleek...some guys intentionally o-ring grooved their blocks and left out the wire thinking the groove would help "grab" the gasket and keep it from shifting a bit. My block was done this way, and it's a bothersome situation, but not much I can do about it. The depth of the groove is less than half the width, so there would be no press fit on the wire, and it wouldn't stay in the block. So, I live with it. In the pic you can see the indentation of the groove on the gasket (Felpro 1017). At the area of the ex. valve notches, the groove is actually exposed in the chamber ever so slightly. This really dosen't bother me, though, since the groove is sealed all the way around. A little combustion gets into the groove, but can't go anywhere. You can see the black at the ex. valve notch, and you can see it dosen't go very far. Is this ideal? No. I'd rather have a flat surface for the gasket to seal against. I could go with a perfectly round 4.500 gasket or something, leaving the entire o-ring inside the chamber, but I don't want to lose the compression.
http://www2.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1729oring3.jpg
Edited to add:
I just looked at my Cometics and see that the embossed area will fall directly on the groove in my block. The bore on the Cometics is right at 4.31, so the groove will be completely covered, though. It'll be interesting to see how this works out. Ultimately I could re-groove the block deeper so it would hold wire and cut it again, although I'm already .002 out of the hole. I'm still not worried about running it the way it is.

[Sleek-Jet]

Cool.... so I guess not hearing any further disenting opinions... wire is not needed to seal and O-ringed block.
Thanks.... :D

[Infomaniac]

Cool.... so I guess not hearing any further disenting opinions... wire is not needed to seal and O-ringed block.
Thanks.... :D
Yea I would not try it without something in the groove.
I'm in Memphis at the races this weekend.

[Sleek-Jet]

Yea I would not try it without something in the groove.
I'm in Memphis at the races this weekend.
Well, try not to eat to much and we'll talk more when you get back.
NHRA today had a couple spots on the food for the teams. Looks like Schumacher had a pretty nice spread. :D

[Infomaniac]

Well, try not to eat to much and we'll talk more when you get back.
NHRA today had a couple spots on the food for the teams. Looks like Schumacher had a pretty nice spread. :D
Yea they have a couple of chefs that do the cooking. Always great stuff. I make sure and tell them what a great job they did. They are stuck in front of the hospitality trailer.

[Sleek-Jet]

So... about those wire grooves in my block... what am I going to need to do??

[Infomaniac]

See if you can get some copper wire to fill them with and file them off or I would not be beyond putting some epoxy in them. Just something to make a flat hard surface.

[Sleek-Jet]

See if you can get some copper wire to fill them with and file them off or I would not be beyond putting some epoxy in them. Just something to make a flat hard surface.
OK... I think I can figure something out.... :D
Thanks Info.

[steelcomp]

I'm wondering what they're hurting?? :idea:

[Infomaniac]

I'm wondering what they're hurting?? :idea:
The groove? I would just feel better about having a flat surface everywhere. Not saying it will not work