DONT use NAPA headgaskets on a turbo subaru engine.

 

They will blow at the time you least want it to, and leave you stranded and in search of a new shortblock many hundreds of miles away from home.

 

It lasted 17k miles.

 

Here's the best part..i was out running mod'ed WRX's WITH the blown HG.

 

Thankfully, JWX is loaning me my old RX's shortblock, and the boys over on NASIOC in the atlanta area are helping me out a TON....the car is in a shop right now, and SOA is going to get me a pair of headgaskets out of the atlanta warehouse tomorrow providing that they have a set. Then i will be able to swap things over and hopefully the heads wont be warped so much that they wont be able to be used.....

 

So....DONT use anything but OE for the EA82T unless you get some copper ofr those *i cant remember the name* HGs that TWE is going to have made for their project cars that hold 40+ PSI all day long.

im curious of this "out running modded wrx's"

mods list plz so i can duplicate

Engine:

spyder intake+xt6 throttle body

TWE header+DP+2.5" stroght pipe

either stock boost or more on autox course

WRX TMIC

remote oil filter+oil cooler

stock for 89 RX automatic cams (same as all 87+ turbo cars?)

 

Trans and some:

RX D/R FT4WD+LSD, 3.70 final w/mobil 1 15w-50 synthetic engine oil in trans, and valvoline synth 75-90 in the LSD

 

Suspension:

Front: KYB GR2 2WD struts w/250 lb 10" tall springs and MRT camber/caster plates, solid lower control arm bushing

Rear: Carerra damper w/height adjustable collar, solid bottom bushings, 350 lb spring.

Other: poly steering rack bushing kit for GC8 (non-RA)

 

Other: RX body kit in black, all factory GL-10 options (as its a GL-10)

when the engine comes out I am maybe thinking the AC and PS is going for now as the PS lines are in the way of the header and the AC doesnt work since I had to discharge it to cut a bracket....

 

Driver:

Excellent (this makes a big difference....had I been driving some of those other cars I beat, then the wagon would not have beat them, but im not saying those others were bad driver...they were good, but I was better)

YAY! There are 16 of them in the ATL warehouse!

I think I could read several volumes of books on "What not to do."

 

When it comes to engine parts, only use genuine Subaru parts, that should be rule #1.

straight up Corky! learned that just sitting around a scooby shop. dad causioned me against using napa OIL FILTERS. for cripes sake, no one but subaru.

 

Sweet on the mod-ed WRX smack down. I had a MR2 behind me in my mildly modified RX on Saturday, and played tag in a FT4 with a mod-ed to hell CRX.

i see, i dont have too much work left then

outruning modded wrx's huh? why is that hard to believe? your mods list doesnt seem to be long enough to do that. unless you were racin 16 year olds

outruning modded wrx's huh? why is that hard to believe? your mods list doesnt seem to be long enough to do that. unless you were racin 16 year olds

the bad driver mod caused me to beat a stock C5 vette in my modded impulse turbo.

I hope Fels Pro gaskets hold up. Thats what I will be using.

i dont pay these kinds of threads much mind, anybody can blow a head gasket in 17k miles if they are trying to. you can turn your boost up too high and accomplish this very easily.

factory gaskets are great, im sure, but i've had no problems runing after market stuff. granted im not runin high boost and givin her the boot every change i get either.

I hope Fels Pro gaskets hold up. Thats what I will be using.

I have had no problems with my Fel Pro gaskets on both engines I've had in the RX.

i have had bad luck with felpro i like to use victor-rienze but they cost a little more but i did put felpro headgasket in my sisters 93 loyale and haven't had any problems

When I got NAPA head gaskets for my '85 GL-10 several years ago, they turned out to be OE! They looked exactly like the factory gaskets, and even had the FHI swoosh on them.

My personal belief is that you should only use genuine subaru engine parts. This is especially true for HG's, as the factory gasket can be had for $27, which is a dollar less than the NAPA one, and significantly cheaper than $36 for the Beck-Arnley brand that NAPA also sells. Better gasket for less money, how can you go wrong? The only case in which I'd use a different gasket is possibly installing some super heavy duty ones on a turbo motor running high boost.

outruning modded wrx's huh? why is that hard to believe? your mods list doesnt seem to be long enough to do that. unless you were racin 16 year olds

 

I was out running experienced and novice autocrossers. Obviously the novices were not close...the the more experienced ones were closer....some were obviously faster due to really sticky rubber and way more advanced suspension and power...

 

Still...it was faster than most of the cars out there all things being equal.

 

I was NOT trying to blow a HG. The NAPA ones simply do not hold up like the OE ones. Sometimes you will get that random FHI one packeged by a napa brand...most of the time its some POS gasket.

 

99.5% of the time the car was under stock boost. Never did boost exceed 16 psi for a period longer than 1 second.

Well, I've purchased a copper headgasket from Paeco Industries in the past. If I could get a copper headgasket for the RX turbo, is it recommended to purchase it? I've read that when using copper headgaskets on an engine, the head bolts have to be re-tightened due to the copper headgaskets not flexing.

 

I'm just saying, if it's recommended to use copper headgaskets when running higher boost, I'll do so. I plan on going to 13psi and then doing what I have to fuel wise. Also, is there anyone here running copper headgaskets and if so, what's your experience with them? If not, I'll just be using OEM headgaskets until someone else is a guinea pig. I'm not a mechanic.

use gasket works usa for the CU HGs...as they are just as good and less expensive...

 

my experience with CUHG was bad...since i was given incorrect info on how to use them.