How much boost is "safe" with a thick headgasket? What kind of gasket and is it worth it?

I wouldn't consider a thicker headgasket a good solution for lowering compression to increase boost limits. A thicker gasket presents a larger surface for the pressure to act on. Then you've got a greater force acting on the gasket, which might make it blow. I'm sure there are a couple other reasons why a thicker headgasket is not as good as "proper" methods of lowering compression, but I don't know them yet. Corky Bell says not to do it in his book "Maximum Boost"; I'm inclined to believe him.


Corbin
'95 ESI-T
HRC + FMIC

I agree.

Thicker headgaskets are not the solution, as the higher compression is not necessarily the problem. Even with a thicker headgasket (and all the sealing problems presented) you are still running with stock cast (read: brittle) pistons. The higher compression isn't necessarily the problem- i would be more inclined to blame it on the composition of the pistons and thier metalurgic qualities in our application.

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