Well, the 305/350 swap has gone well! Yeah! Taking stuff apart is easy, but putting them back together is a whole other story. SO, heres my question. I used a set of Mr. Gasket aluminum header gaskets. (Autozone/Pepboys type) They are REALLY thick ( like an 8th of an inch) and Im wondering if anybody has any experience with them. They didnt crush like I thought they would and I REALLY dont want to have to install these again. Im using 7/16's header bolts with a dab of red loctite to hold it all together. Please tell me these things arent gonna blow as soon as it get hot!

Cant WAIT to fire up this 350, but I want to make sure it all gets done right the first time.

 

the aluminum header gaskets are great gaskets , they are also reuseable. they "crush" alot because they are dead soft aluminum so they "crush" around the header tubes.so you should be cool.

 

I use them...is lock tight a good idea when using headers? don't they heat up and get tighter.? just askin cuz i never torque them down alot and have never had a prob. I could just be lucky.

 

Wont the exhaust heat just defeat the lock tite?

 

in aviation we use locktite on alot of our aplications. especially with turbine engine, which get extremely hot, as would anything pumping 800+ hp. lol.

 

I'm almost 110% sure he's right. no likey heat. After awhile it hardens and then your stuck with the tap and dye. I was always told to use anti seize on mine. There is nothin fun like pullin off a head to fix a broken bolt.

 

after a month or so once its heated and hardened it will eventually wear in and mold properly for now its fine its not gonna hurt anything but again after it heats tighthen them a bit more.

 

If you think that loose bolts will be a problem, go the safe rout and get the locking header bolts.

 

your all set bud, fire that ol' girl up

 

i personally would not use the loctite... what if you dont get the bolts tightened correctly and you have an exhaust leak? or if you need to do some work on something and it requires you to take off one of the headers. To me, id rather just spend a little extra time and after a few heating and cooling trips, tighten them again, and maybe once more after that. I agree with 74454 in this one, nothin fun about all that extra work because of some loctite...