reuse installed but never ran felpro gaskets?

[85begalttype]

I had water in my oil so i tore the motor apart to replace the head gaskets. installed felpro 1000 and torque sequenced every 10 ftlbs, up to 70ftlbs. then decided to replace the rear main seal. After looking at the bearings and something scratched into the crankshaft. Engine needs a complete rebuild now and the heads have to be taken back off. Can i resuse these gaskets since i never finished torquing and the engine was never started? paid over $120 for the pair.

 

[ek02]

I would not reuse Fel Pros that have been torqued. I have reused Cometics that were torqued and not run, but unless someone on the board says they have done it with success, I would get a new set.

 

[boostmaster]

I have done it with no problems at all.

 

[turbofabricator]

I've re-used head gaskets that were not run. I personally do NOT like the 1000 Fel-Pro's though. They warp the deck of the head on the intake side of the head between the head bolt holes. The deck is only about .20" thick there. I use to use them 25 years ago, but now use the 9441 or Cometics. One thing I did do that seemed to help was to trace around a stock head gasket and cut and remove the paper coating on the gasket to increase the clamping load of the gasket. The 1000's tend to blow right into the un used head bolt hole on the intake side. THe reason they failed there is (1) detonation, so get your tune-up right and you'll be OK. (2) The fire ring in the gasket is stainless and it warps the deck of the head as previously mentioned. I use to pin the decks of the cylinder head right above the fire ring to halp prevent deck warping. Now with Cometics and good tuning and injectors that flow more than 30 lbs./hr. I don't need to pin the decks any more. (Pinning involves the use of steel pins that are installed through a threaded hole in the upper surface and then secured under pressure with a set screw under the valve cover. I would pre-load the deck to .0005" --warping it opposite of what the gasket would do. So essentially I was pre-loadng the head against the gasket by .0005")