MLS Gaskets

[4eighteener]

Long story short, I had a hydraulic flat tappet cam failure after 100 miles (2nd one). I am not going to go thru that again and decided to use a hydraulic roller cam instead. The heads have to be removed to install the roller lifters.
Can I reuse the MLS head gaskets?

 

[junkyardhero]

while i absolutely don't recommend it, i've seen people do it and i've certainly done it as a last resort in unique situations.

can it be done, yeah. should it be done? i'd say not worth the risk of having to do the job twice or possibly damaging the motor if one lets go at an inopportune time.

if you do wind up going ahead with it, don't expect them to last a long time.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

Keep them on the same side they came off. Remove the rivets and coat all three layers with copper coat gasket spray. We did it on our engines because it was ours and never had an issue in the past. I have seen them used up to three times by racers at the track . Never reuse them if the block or head is o-ringed with inconel or copper wire. The wire tends to cut or weaken the compression ring in the gasket.

 

[4eighteener]

while i absolutely don't recommend it, i've seen people do it and i've certainly done it as a last resort in unique situations.

can it be done, yeah. should it be done? i'd say not worth the risk of having to do the job twice or possibly damaging the motor if one lets go at an inopportune time.

if you do wind up going ahead with it, don't expect them to last a long time.

while i absolutely don't recommend it, i've seen people do it and i've certainly done it as a last resort in unique situations.

can it be done, yeah. should it be done? i'd say not worth the risk of having to do the job twice or possibly damaging the motor if one lets go at an inopportune time.

if you do wind up going ahead with it, don't expect them to last a long time.

I hear you, and am normally of the same mind. This block had been severely decked so required an extra thick gasket for piston clearance. Although not a custom size gasket, even off the shelf from summit they were around $240 each.
I had hoped since it basically failed at break in they might not have developed a memory in them

 

[4eighteener]

Keep them on the same side they came off. Remove the rivets and coat all three layers with copper coat gasket spray. We did it on our engines because it was ours and never had an issue in the past. I have seen them used up to three times by racers at the track . Never reuse them if the block or head is o-ringed with inconel or copper wire. The wire tends to cut or weaken the compression ring in the gasket.

View attachment 1716326438

Thanks for the input! So that has worked for you?
Yes, that was my thinking to keep them on the same side and use some copper coat.
I did not think to remove the rivets.
It is not o-ringed, and not terribly high compression 10.2 although it will have a fairly high cranking pressure due to cam choice with aluminum heads.
I used arp head bolts, not studs.

 

[B3422w5]

I would have zero issues running them, and not doing anything to them other than just retorquing them again. This all assumes there is nothing wrong with the gaskets.
I have reused them on a 13 to 1 motor before with no issues. Cometic gaskets

 

[replicaracer43]

I have personally reused cometic gaskets at least 3 times on the same engine with zero issues. But the deck and heads were both surfaced on my CBN surfacer, so pretty slick finish.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

It is not the compression that would be an issue installing bare. They at times drip coolant when they cool down . I have had them drip coolant when new with aluminum heads after hot then cooled down. Always On a 10 bolt head with 4 bolts per cylinder. Big Block and Chevy all have 5 bolts per cylinder never an issue.

 

[TT5.9mag]

I’ve reused cometics many times on turbo stuff without doing anything to the gasket at all, never a problem. As said above though the decks and heads are prepped initially for an mls gasket.

 

[4eighteener]

I’ve reused cometics many times on turbo stuff without doing anything to the gasket at all, never a problem. As said above though the decks and heads are prepped initially for an mls gasket.

The deck was, and I used the trick flow heads out of the box. The finish on them seemed smoother than the deck though I did not use a profilometer to check either

 

[4eighteener]

It is not the compression that would be an issue installing bare. They at times drip coolant when they cool down . I have had them drip coolant when new with aluminum heads after hot then cooled down. Always On a 10 bolt head with 4 bolts per cylinder. Big Block and Chevy all have 5 bolts per cylinder never an issue.

I guess i forgot the water aspect of it

 

[Scody21]

We put a bead of high temp silicone around the water ports in between the layers and just copper coat the gasket faces when installing. We don’t reuse them as we’re building racing engines. But would have no problem reusing for a street car engine.

 

[4eighteener]

I would have zero issues running them, and not doing anything to them other than just retorquing them again. This all assumes there is nothing wrong with the gaskets.
I have reused them on a 13 to 1 motor before with no issues. Cometic gaskets

This I guess is what I was hoping to hear, but needed to hear it from someone who has actually done it.
Or I would have been happy to hear the opposite opinion of someone who did it without success, just to rule out the possibility of doing it, but definitely not as happy as in the former

 

[4eighteener]

We put a bead of high temp silicone around the water ports in between the layers and just copper coat the gasket faces when installing. We don’t reuse them as we’re building racing engines. But would have no problem reusing for a street car engine.

Yes, mine is a mild street engine stroker

 

[junkyardhero]

This I guess is what I was hoping to hear, but needed to hear it from someone who has actually done it.
Or I would have been happy to hear the opposite opinion of someone who did it without success, just to rule out the possibility of doing it, but definitely not as happy as in the former

a point to consider is how the car is going to be used.

for a race car that sees teardowns frequently, it's fine because that is almost expected and goes part and parcel with that type of activity.

but a daily driver or a road trip machine? what's the gamble worth if you lose a gasket in BFE over a holiday weekend?

 

[4eighteener]

a point to consider is how the car is going to be used.

for a race car that sees teardowns frequently, it's fine because that is almost expected and goes part and parcel with that type of activity.

but a daily driver or a road trip machine? what's the gamble worth if you lose a gasket in BFE over a holiday weekend?

I hear ya!
After the second cam failure i am getting tired of pulling and repair!! hence the roller.
I am not willing to gamble with a flat tappet cam again.
I guess i could look into maching the quench pad on the piston down and use a 1008 gasket, but i suspect that would be even more than buying nee gaskets.
Btw, it is in a truck, and i do road trips twice a year up (snow bird) and down the east coast sometimes pulling a camper

 

[TT5.9mag]

a point to consider is how the car is going to be used.

for a race car that sees teardowns frequently, it's fine because that is almost expected and goes part and parcel with that type of activity.

but a daily driver or a road trip machine? what's the gamble worth if you lose a gasket in BFE over a holiday weekend?

It makes no difference really what it’s used for. Street or race. The cometics will be fine. My truck has 630,000+ miles on it, most of those on boost, and the heads have been off 3 times, and retorqued twice. All on the same gaskets. I rely on it daily.
On some of the boosted LS stuff I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve pulled a head and stuck it back on with the same gasket. Same with Lima ford 2.3 turbo stuff. They will be fine.

The deck was, and I used the trick flow heads out of the box. The finish on them seemed smoother than the deck though I did not use a profilometer to check either

You’re good to go. Put em back on, torque em, heat cycle the engine and re-torque em. Done deal.