Head gasket recommendation

nm9stheham said

I read this commentary with interest, 'speically the comment of flatness being most of the battle. The one thing that I question is on the dowel pins; I can't see where they do anything to to help the gasket stay in place in the narrow webs between cylinders. It is just clamping pressure and surface friction that keeps them in place in those areas.

With grinding type surfacers still around, the rough surfaces in rebuilds aren't going away IMHO.

Click to expand...

You are right in the dowel pins only hold the gasket in certain areas. They have zero affect between the bores, where most failures occur. I'm talking about what they used to call gasket migration, where the entire gasket would move around. Every time a cylinder fires it lifts the head off the block. Every time. And the gasket has to follow this movement or it fails. That's what the dowel pis do after the head is bolted down.

If you control speed and feed, and grinding stone will produce a mirror finish. It is the multiple cutter style of surfaces that have issues. Especially if you have one or two cutters not perfectly located.