I have a few questions on copper head gaskets. I will be running a 2mm headgasket until I decided to do a engine rebuild, I will be running 11mm studs to hold up the increase in boost. Does anyone know if the torque settings for the new 11mm studs change. If so does anyone know the torque amount. Also does the head need to be drilled in order to fit the 11mm studs. Since stock studs are 10mm does the thicker headgasket compensate the new space. Any one experience this install, feedback please.

Thanks alot....

As far as I know, when you go for a copper head gasket you must o-ring both the cylinder head and the engine block. Otherwise, you will blow out boost. So leakage occurs because the copper does not bite surfaces as does the stock head gasket.

MERT 600+ hp euro sc M3

Turbo M Coupe: No I don't know but I will be moving to a Copper headgasket in stage II of my engine development, along with head studs.

Are you planning on doing this yourself? This is the sort of thing I pay my workshop to research and build for me.

'O' ringing the head or block is not absolutely necessary with copper gasket. Often the problem with copper gaskets is containing fluids, just use a very stout adhesive and good prep.

But since you're taking the head off, might as well 'O' ring it. It's relatively inexpensive.

Mert funny but you dont have to do anything of the sort .. If you go CHG you must use a Cut ring gasket ontop of it to help with transfering of fluids and containing . I know of many cars that use this set up and have many miles on them

I've been researching this as well...and here's what I have found.

If you want to go with copper, it is best to o-ring the block. It is the best defense against leaking coolant. For a street car that you may want to drive without service for some time, copper is not the way to go. It work hardens and will eventually need to be removed, annealed, and reinstalled to prevent coolant leakage.

A MLS (multi layered steel gasket) will not require O-ringing the block. These are more reliable overall. The head also does not require re-torqueing after install.

For anyone that needs a 0.078 steel gasket (just shy of 2mm = .080) the cost is $130. Yes, only $130. If you are willing to only go with a .057 thick MLS gasket, they come with an HP ring. This is basically a o-ring built into the gasket. I was told that this is not needed, but if you want 30 psi on your race car, it will be a good idea.

Raceware longer head studs for a turbo or supercharged motor are about $230 for the set.

So, basically for $360 in parts you can lower your compression and make your motor more suitable for tubocharging.

Labor, of course, will add to that total. I originally wasn't going to bother with this and just limit myself to a 7 psi map and maybe have a 9 psi map for race gas. Now that I can do this myself and for less than $400, I most definitely will.

Hope this helps,

I totally agree with BadMonkey. O Ringing is a simple piece of engineering that increases the durability of your engine and it is not expensive.

If you are building a FI engine why wouldn't you O ring the heads and block while you are dropping in your forged low compression pistons? As the Monkey said, your engine is open anyway, right?

As for copper head gaskets, if you are using them to drop your compression rather than to seal in boost more effectively then I think you should think about what you are doing. Running stock pistons with FI is always going to be placing your engine at risk and won't support the use of a relatively high boost.