dd/strip advice

The truck in my sig is mostly my daily driver but I like to run it at the strip a good bit on the weekends and I never tow with it. Currently my head gasket is leaking a little oil so I'll probably try and pull the motor out this winter and clean it all up and install a new head gasket and probably do a tappet cover gasket while I have it out. Almost 2 years ago my head gasket started leaking oil on the front and I sent the head to get checked and it was trashed so I got a new oem head from cummins with a oem gasket and also installed arp 425's and now it's started leaking oil again but this time on the back of the head. I only make 35-38 psi max so I don't think it should be killing gaskets like this? Would it be best to go ahead and have it o-ringed while its out? And is the standard thickness fine or should I step up to a .10 over? Also is it best to just replace the tappet cover gasket or is it worth the money to get a billet cover? A buddy of mine said that's the only way to go is with a billet but I've never really had to mess with one so I don't know. Also truck will probably be getting a 66-67mm turbo and some 6x13's in the future any advice is greatly appreciated

Did you do any retorques after the initial torque?

Yeah I did one. But I put the head on at school when I was still goin and I told my instructor I wanted to retorque them but he said no only do the initial torque so the first retorque wasn't until about 1000 miles or so. I know that was a mistake and that's probably why it's leaking now. And some idiots in there were trying to help put the head on and I got a feeling one of them knicked the gasket with it but I don't know. It didn't start leaking again till a few months ago. The new head and gasket have maybe 20,000 miles on them now, would it be fine to reuse the 425's when I do it or would I be money ahead to get some 625's or something better since I'm going to go to a bigger turbo?

But when I do all the work this time I'm going to pull my motor out so I'll have more room to work on it and make sure it all goes on straight

Any advice?

MOTORBOAT

...when you see some DD's and she's strippin

You have answered your own questions for the most part.

Get head decked

Get orings cut if feasible

Do not scratch the gasket.

Do the proper retorque procedure on the studs.

No secret formulas for the most part on any of this stuff. The hard part for some is doing the procedures properly. This then causes them to second guess the parts.

If you o ring it and do the procedures properly it will hold most anything you can throw at it from a DD standpoint.

Hurley said:

MOTORBOAT

...when you see some DD's and she's strippin

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Truest statement of the day


And thanks zfaylor I know it's pretty straight forward and I shouldn't have any problems doin it here by myself, it was just kinda difficult last time with idiots at school that didn't know anything about a motor at all. You think I'll still be good with the 425's if I go to a bigger turbo or should I get some better ones while I have it apart? I think the 425's are rated for 40-45psi but I've heard of people runnin way more with them. Just thought I'd ask on here since people here have way more experience with this stuff than me

Hdhorton said:

Truest statement of the day


And thanks zfaylor I know it's pretty straight forward and I shouldn't have any problems doin it here by myself, it was just kinda difficult last time with idiots at school that didn't know anything about a motor at all. You think I'll still be good with the 425's if I go to a bigger turbo or should I get some better ones while I have it apart? I think the 425's are rated for 40-45psi but I've heard of people runnin way more with them. Just thought I'd ask on here since people here have way more experience with this stuff than me

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It will depend on if you o ring or not. 425 done properly have handled every bit of 60+ psi in my trucks in the past. With o rings I wouldn't be scared to touch 80. That being said there is a reason everybody will say every truck is different. My 97 I had held 50 psi as a DD with the head bolts untouched on it while some can't hold the stock charger putting out 35psi.

If you are worried then o rings are worth every penny for the peace of mind.

I ran stock bolts on mine for a good while with the turbo on my truck now. But since I had to tear it down last time I just went ahead with studs, I guess I'll probably just go with orings and keep runnin the studs in it now until they give problems. Also what would be a better charger to run on my truck? It's vp for now but I've got a 180ppmup sittin on the shelf waitin till my bank account can recoup from gettin my house redone. Was lookin at a 66 but was wonderin if i would just be better off and spend a little more on the 67.7fmw? Also I'm not the best on the exhaust side of them so any help with that would be good too. Just lookin for a decent spool up and not ridiculous lag from a big single. Twins will probably come in the future but sticking with a single for now, truck will also be gettin a good set of 6x13's when I do the turbo

Hdhorton said:

I ran stock bolts on mine for a good while with the turbo on my truck now. But since I had to tear it down last time I just went ahead with studs, I guess I'll probably just go with orings and keep runnin the studs in it now until they give problems. Also what would be a better charger to run on my truck? It's vp for now but I've got a 180ppmup sittin on the shelf waitin till my bank account can recoup from gettin my house redone. Was lookin at a 66 but was wonderin if i would just be better off and spend a little more on the 67.7fmw? Also I'm not the best on the exhaust side of them so any help with that would be good too. Just lookin for a decent spool up and not ridiculous lag from a big single. Twins will probably come in the future but sticking with a single for now, truck will also be gettin a good set of 6x13's when I do the turbo

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A 67 FMW with the 87 turbine and some 6x13 is a great combo. JLBayes on here made well over 600hp with that setup IIRC.

You could probably get away with the 83 turbine on the 67 but my choice would be the 87. Definitely if you plan to ppump and use the 67 as a secondary later on in a twins setup.

zfaylor said:

A 67 FMW with the 87 turbine and some 6x13 is a great combo. JLBayes on here made well over 600hp with that setup IIRC.

You could probably get away with the 83 turbine on the 67 but my choice would be the 87. Definitely if you plan to ppump and use the 67 as a secondary later on in a twins setup.

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Which is the main reason I was leaning towards the 67. Because when I get a tst I'll basically have the same setup as he did, I guess there wouldn't be much of a difference in spool between the 67 and 66? I'll get new t4 manifold when I get one, I want a steed but I know they're pricey but I thought about just spendin the money while I'm at it and get a gated steed