Which gasket

[Cecil/WV]

Which gasket do you prefer for an 8BA and why??? Thanks for answers.
3 large holes or 2 large and 1 small

[Russ/40]

My preference would be for the one on the right . Better gasket, copper jacketed water holes are larger than the other gasket. With those, I don't believe the small third hole is an issue. You'll get plenty circulation to the rear.

[wga]

Cecil - manufacturer of these gaskets is.....

[Cecil/WV]

Fraaco, I believe, They came from Joblot. I am interested in why the difference in the size of the holes, not the quality or manufacturer of the gasket.

[G.M.]

Cecil I like the one on the right but would punch holes in the lower right where the long odd shaped hole is missing. Gasket makers most likely don't do heat tests but listem to requests from customers. You don't want to restrict water flow in any part of the water system. Once flow is restricted the flow through the entire side of the block is reduced to that hole. All of the holes in the gasket should add up to close the openning area of the radiator hose. If you have a 4" pipe and put a big washer in the pipe with a 1/2" hole you might as well use 1/2" pipe because that's all the water that will flow unless the pressure is increased. Henry wouldn't have used the large water hoses if he could have used 5/8" heater hose and that's the effect of putting washers in to restrict the flow, 5/8" radiator hose flow. G.M.

[51 MERC-CT]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I have two sets of Felpro (FS 7525B ) gaskets. Decided to take a look at them and found two different sets of head gaskets. One of each shown in photos. Go figure
I would use the one on the right.

[Terry,OH]

To aid in getting more coolant to the rear of the engine block Ford restricted the size of the coolant passages, in the gasket, in the front of the block. I am not sure if this is the case with the gaskets you have. The Ford gaskets were marked "FRONT"

[jdl]

Cecil/WV

This is a interesting subject, I looked up Fel-Pro & Best Gasket Co. and they are like the one on the right, then I looked them up in the 49-51 Ford shop manual... here is what they show

[jdl]

Also on the Best Gasket website the copper gaskets have the three large holes and the composite have two large holes.

more confusion...

[Cecil/WV]

Originally Posted by G.M.

Cecil I like the one on the right but would punch holes in the lower right where the long odd shaped hole is missing. Gasket makers most likely don't do heat tests but listem to requests from customers. You don't want to restrict water flow in any part of the water system. Once flow is restricted the flow through the entire side of the block is reduced to that hole. All of the holes in the gasket should add up to close the openning area of the radiator hose. If you have a 4" pipe and put a big washer in the pipe with a 1/2" hole you might as well use 1/2" pipe because that's all the water that will flow unless the pressure is increased. Henry wouldn't have used the large water hoses if he could have used 5/8" heater hose and that's the effect of putting washers in to restrict the flow, 5/8" radiator hose flow. G.M.

GM, That is what I was thinking about the size of the holes, I thought that whatever reason anyone had for reducing the hole size came about before we got the high volume pumps and since my car has a tendency to run on the hot side, I think the more flow, the better. We'll see!

[blown49]

Several years ago I milled an 8BA head on the top to see what was inside and posted several pictures on the HAMB. I eventially made a second post. Each of these threads started with "yikes!" And an advanced search along with blown49 as the poster should allow you to find these, , Between the first and second posts I contacted Fel-Pro and asked about the hole changes; talked to a guy in the tech ection that had been there for years. He told me no changes were ever made to the FelPro gaskets unless the enginne mfg. suggested a change. My original reason for doing the research was I had a Victor composite gasked fail on the right head bteween cyls. 1&2 with less than 250 miles on it. I had usually previously used only FelPro gaskets with good success. I have recently changed my thinking to using the Best Brand gaskets as they have great tech support whereas FelPro has none anymore.

Jim