Fire ring questions

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cottondoc

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I have a 1995 reg cab 4x4 that is a street and track toy. It has the original 200K mile short block. The head was recently checked out and rebuilt with stronger springs and it was cut for fire rings. The pump is a 215 built by Northeast Diesel and then tuned on the truck by Darren Morrison. It has 5x18 injectors. Air comes from 366 over 480 compounds. It has a Darren Morrison built all billet 47rh. I made several passes around 12.0 seconds at 115 and drove a couple thousand miles like this. Darren recently bumped up the timing and turned some more fuel to it. The truck was running really well with no problems until I ran it pretty hard with the converter locked in overdrive. The 60lb boost gauge swung back around to the peg, probably where 80lb would be. When I got home just a few miles later it was pouring oil from the front left side of the head gasket. It has fire rings and new Cummins head bolts torqued I believe to 150 lb/ft. Maybe not be quite 150. Anyway, I assume it lifted the head and blew the gasket where oil goes from the block to head. Other than the oil leak, the truck cranks and runs normally. Anyway, I'm planning on removing the head and replacing the gasket and going back with ARP 625 studs. What do I have to do special to the head gasket for the fire rings? Who would have the gasket, fire rings, and 625 studs? Also, any other thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. ?


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Haisley seems to be a pretty popular choice for head gaskets. I had one on my 95 with ARP 625 studs and never had issues.
 
It's really important to note the type of cut, and the depth of the cut in your head.

I wouldn't use anything other than a Haisley fire ring gasket kit, also the shop that I deal with has found that running less cut depth than what Haisley recommends has yielded better results due to an increased amount of pressure on the ring, of course with ARP 625 at 160lbs. I would never recommend fire rings without upgraded head studs like 625 or equivalent or 14mm studs. Big waste of time and will eventually fail...
 
DieselheaD said:
It's really important to note the type of cut, and the depth of the cut in your head.



I wouldn't use anything other than a Haisley fire ring gasket kit, also the shop that I deal with has found that running less cut depth than what Haisley recommends has yielded better results due to an increased amount of pressure on the ring, of course with ARP 625 at 160lbs. I would never recommend fire rings without upgraded head studs like 625 or equivalent or 14mm studs. Big waste of time and will eventually fail...
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I dunno Darren and Phil have pushed much further than this guys street truck with stock bolts


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Yeah Darren had done over 1K horsepower to the tire with Cummins head bolts and fire rings, but it didn't work on my truck at less horsepower for some reason. It's an old truck and old stock shortblock. Maybe the deck isn't perfect. That was Darren's thought. I'm just hoping the 625s and a fresh gasket will hold. If not, I'll pull the motor and start over.

Thanks for all the good info. I'll give Haisley a call.


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DieselheaD said:
True but only on fresh surfaces
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Yeah I blew a h/g with normal arp studs, took it apart and went with 625's and firerings, and had the head surfaced. In the words of the machine shop, it was "way off" which was probably what caused the blown h/g in the first place.
 
JQmile said:
Yeah I blew a h/g with normal arp studs, took it apart and went with 625's and firerings, and had the head surfaced. In the words of the machine shop, it was "way off" which was probably what caused the blown h/g in the first place.
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My head has been surfaced recently but the block deck hasn't. That may be the problem. I don't have the money to pull the motor right now, so I'm going to give the 625's a try.


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cottondoc said:
My head has been surfaced recently but the block deck hasn't. That may be the problem. I don't have the money to pull the motor right now, so I'm going to give the 625's a try.


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Click to expand...

Yeah see if you can check it...I know a couple people who have been stalled in their builds by a crookedy block
 
JQmile said:
Yeah see if you can check it...I know a couple people who have been stalled in their builds by a crookedy block
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I figured it wasn't the best idea to put a new gasket in without checking the block deck. Can it be checked with any accuracy with the block in the truck?


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With a heavy high dollar straight edge it should be feasable
 
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