Exhaust Manifold Gaskets? what gasket!!!!!!!!!

Be very careful when handling the Remflex gaskets. Do not hold them in a way that they can bend. I was not as cautious about handling one & it broke very easily.
 
Is it more common to have it give on the passenger side?.... I had it over boost a few psi and now I hear a exhaust leak on the passenger side... Do you always have to replace the gasket?
 
Is it more common to have it give on the passenger side?.... I had it over boost a few psi and now I hear a exhaust leak on the passenger side... Do you always have to replace the gasket?
 
Factory nuts holding header were serrated wernt they? Im not sure they were made to be used over and over.
 
I've installed hundreds of exhaust manifolds on turbocharged engines. What I've found is that over a long period of time if you run a gasket it will likely leak or fail at some point no matter what you use. The type of gasket used plays a role. Don't ever use the perforated fel pro gasket. They will fail rapidly from the pressure. I remove many sets of these from cars every year. The 1400 fel pro is an excellent gasket for a thick flanged manifold. With a thick flange you can use the full torque on a 3/8-16 fastener and get a good clamp load on the gasket for a long seal. It's not that great for a stock flange because the flange will deflect a lot when trying to torque but can be used if carefully torqued and the flange isn't warped much. The copper gaskets are the most rugged design but will usually show evidence of slight leakage on removal no matter how good the surfaces are. I don't rec them for use with stock manifolds because the flange will bend around the imprinted portion of the gasket upon tightening. It is possible to use them on stock manifolds but you have to watch how you tighten the bolts. The remflex will seal on the worst possible surface. I disagree about the torque spec they rec when installing though. They rec a very light torque spec. The problem with that is you will need to be sure to use an interference nut on the 3 bolt flange studs and serrated flange heads on the header bolts or they will eventually back off a little. Once that happens and a small leak develops it will blow out a hunk of gasket on anything with 40+psi exhaust pressure and you'll have a big leak in a hurry. Also as mentioned they are not happy if you bend or hit them on anything when installing. If you were not going to resurface your exhaust housing and header 3 bolt flange the remflex is probably the way to go. If you re-surface only one of the surfaces the copper gasket will work well with the bead against the non finished surface. Some of the aftermarket manifolds have mild flanges. These flanges are very prone to problems if a small leak develops. Once the leak is there the surface of the flange will oxidize and a trail will form. Once this happens the flange should be re-surfaced or replaced with a stainless flange. If the surfaces on the heads and manifolds are nice and flat then a little copper rtv and properly torqued fasteners will keep it leak free. If you have aluminum heads you should use studs where possible. Also thread inserting the holes is useful to prevent failure of the threads. If thread inserts or studs aren't used then you should bottom tap the holes and use bolts that engage as much thread as possible. This may require getting longer than needed bolts and turning them down to exact length. Anti-seize should be used to prevent galling of the threads. If you want to thread insert these you will need access to a Bridgeport or other milling machine. It gets very thin on the top ones and easy to break through.


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I have atr headers and I am sick tired of replacing gaskets.
Torque them to 25 lbs, cleaned both headers and head to a mirror finish.
should I use those remflex gaskets or copper silicone?
 
I have atr headers and I am sick tired of replacing gaskets.
Torque them to 25 lbs, cleaned both headers and head to a mirror finish.
should I use those remflex gaskets or copper silicone?
25ft lbs isn't enough on a 3/8-16 thread to stretch the fasterner. No stretch=no clamping force


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My remflex gasket leak in my hot air but I believe it's because I don't have any flex joints in my crossover pipe or up pipe, the up pipe gets pulled by the turbo for sure.

I had my exhaust manifold flanges shaved too to make them true but still leak.
 
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