I know they didn’t come with them originally but this motor had some petrified ones on it and as difficult as these manifolds are to remove/install, I’m not going to experiment to see how flat everything is. I installed SCE copper gaskets and the right side sealed OK with the bead against the head. But because exhaust gaskets are both the same and fit only one way on a Hemi, on the left side the bead seated on the manifold and it leaked like a sieve.
So pulled the manifold out again (lots of fun) and studied things. I bolted the gasket to the head and found that between the slop in the manifold holes and the slop in the punched gasket holes, the gasket could slide up or down 5/32” up front and a hair over 1/4” at the back end. That apparently lets the raised bead slide into the port area in the corners if not fitted just precisely. You can see that in the photos below - look at the gasket position at the bottom in these two pictures.
I only go through all this in case someone is thinking about using these gaskets on their Hemi. I’ve used them on other engines with a lot of success but they don’t seem to be a good choice here.
Anyone got a recommendation on a good conventional exhaust gasket for the Hemi?
So pulled the manifold out again (lots of fun) and studied things. I bolted the gasket to the head and found that between the slop in the manifold holes and the slop in the punched gasket holes, the gasket could slide up or down 5/32” up front and a hair over 1/4” at the back end. That apparently lets the raised bead slide into the port area in the corners if not fitted just precisely. You can see that in the photos below - look at the gasket position at the bottom in these two pictures.
I only go through all this in case someone is thinking about using these gaskets on their Hemi. I’ve used them on other engines with a lot of success but they don’t seem to be a good choice here.
Anyone got a recommendation on a good conventional exhaust gasket for the Hemi?