Head gaskets: Dry or with Sealer???

[macplee]

Don,

In your Newsletters manual (page 48), you mentioned factory recommendation to "use a thin coat of sealer on both sides of both gaskets"

But in your Service and Overhaul manual (page P1-3), you mentioned "Be sure to use steel reinforced graphite head gaskets, and install them dry (without any sealer).

Which method should I follow? Is one more updated than the other?
________
LIVE SEX WEBSHOWS

[Don Moyer]

Your reference to an earlier newsletter predates the availability of the excellent Victor steel reinforced graphite gaskets.

Between the time that asbestos head gaskets were banned for environmental reasons in the late 1970's and the availability of Victor gaskets in the early 1990's, head gaskets for the Atomic 4 were produced of very poor materials (actually a paper product) and sealer was usually recommended for those gaskets.

If you're following our recommendation to use our Victor steel reinforced graphite gaskets, then you should use them dry, as Victor recommends. In the event you are using head gaskets of some other manufacturer, you would have to follow their recommendations regarding sealer.

Don