[AscotBlue'71]

Needing a head gasket recommendation for my '71 402 BBC. Bored .030 to 4.155". Forged '69 396/375 HP pistions with a 38.3 cc dome. Running the '71 3993820 heads with the 113 cc combustion chamber. compression looks to be around 11:1 with a .039 compressed head gasket. what is a good quality head gasket that can withstand that kind of compression ratio without blowing a head gasket? And will this engine run well with 91-93 octane gas? this car will never see the dragstrip, just cruise nights and car shows with the occasional burn the tires kind of thing. brand and part number would be greatly appreciated! thanks! :beers:

 

[Chevyobsessed]

Fel-Pro, Cometic, Mr. Gasket,..all can fix you up with quality head gaskets.

Quick thought,..what cam are you running? Hopefully something with some duration, otherwise, 11:1 with iron heads will be a bit much for today's fuel.

 

[AscotBlue'71]

running the comp cams XE268H, duration is: Intake 268 and Exhaust 280. Lobe seperation is is 110. Gross lift is: .515 intake and .520 exhaust

 

[TXCR13]

Fel-Pro, Cometic, Mr. Gasket.

That's my order of preference, for those three.

 

[Steve439]

That's a pretty small cam.
Pat Kelley's dynamic compression ratio calculator gives a DCR of 9.1 for your combo.
As Chevyobsessed said, you might need more duration...

If Terrible Tom chimes in I imagine he'll have some advice...

 

[Schurkey]

How far in the hole are the pistons?

I use a steel shim head gasket unless there's a specific reason not to--in your case, the last thing you need is more compression.

 

[blown496]

Felpro blue head gaskets are on my blown 496. Have never had a problem with them on any engine. Used Cometics once. They leaked and did have a design flaw that their engineer verified and they sent me a new set but I put the blues on anyway.