I chatted with Gary at TVI, he said the reason the Stainless steel O ring gaskets fail was from Pre ignition, he stated that would you rather have your whole motor go Boom from pre ignition (not running the right fuel, wrong jetting, or just blow a head gasket) that saves teh top end of your motor.

 

Erbe,

I am very sorry but doesn't it even bother you a little when a builder explains headgasket failure as the lessor of two evils? Head gasket failure is a good thing because the whole motor blowing is worse???? How about neither because they can be avoided. Preignition can cause head gasket failure but look at the political landscape of preignition being the cause. Who builds the motor? The race shop. Who puts the fuel in? The customer. Running fuel that does not meet the octane requirements is about the only thing that can cause a head gasket to blow that is not in any way the builders fault.......excluding the owner draining the coolant maybe........ Ask Thebomb and the HPR guys how many of their motors come back blown due to preignition caused by their customers using the wrong fuel.

There was a case about two 13.5:1 720's grenading where the builder blamed the Ron Wood CDI because it provided too much advance and the builder complained that the customers used the wrong fuel. The builder was probably right but I was buying from this builder when this all went down. I had a brand new 13.5:1 piston that I was told by the builder would be fine on a 50/50 premium/racegas mix with my MSD ignition fully advanced (+7 deg over stock). I was still trying to work out my fuel questions so I called up there and got the builder on the phone, he had those two blown motors right in front of him. He told me I had to run straight 110 racegas and could never exceed +5 degrees of advance and he didn't want it coming on until 3000 rpm. I reminded him of the parameters he had given me when I purchased my ignition and his piston. He denied ever saying those things. Those customers may have run the wrong fuel and the added advance worsened things but if this builder told them the same things he told me at purchase time, who's fault is the detonation? We put our trust in the expertise of the builders to educate us and inform us on what we do not know.

Really good builders find out what you do not know and fill in the blanks so more problems can be avoided. BTW doesn't the Ron Wood box also make +7 advance, as does procom? If those guys had been running MSD when this happened and it would have happened, it would have been set to +7 based on what I was recommended to set mine at by the builder. There goes the theory about it being the ignitions fault.

Just be careful. Every improvement costs a certain amount. If there is a way to get the same thing but much cheaper, it is at minimum suspect and requires caution.

Ron

 

DSNUTS,you need to get out more the first 730 MHP built blew a head gasket a DS Days last year!I'm sorry if you thing I gave conflicking info!NO BODY IS PERFECT!!!!!

 

Boomer,

I don't remember ever thinking you gave conflicting information (I actually don't remember talking to you about this subject).

Thanks for the info. If what you say is true it will be interesting to hear what caused that head gasket failure. Was the 730 still a prototype or was it being sold on the open market as it was?

I wish I could get out more, unfortunately I have to live with the amount I do.

Ron

 

Wrong. It did not blow a head gasket. The motor was severly overheated and the rings went down.

 

so what company offers an aluminum sleeve for the DS?

 

Scooby here is the link

I E mailed them and they called that aftermoon

 

you left somthing out of that story, the owners of those motors called gary and told him of the symptoms, and told him that they were running the propper octane....after gary told them NOT to run them anymore untill he could take a look at them...they rode them anyway.. so no matter how good advise u give someone, if they are not going to do what u advise, then thats on them....u cant pin that one on the builder( who ever it may be).

 

Bigshow,

The customers in this case were of questionable judgement but that does not negate the responsibility of the builder to properly educate consumers on what it is they are getting and how to use it safely and reliably. Who's Gary? This was simply a metaphorical parable designed to make a point.

Didn't get a response from you on what caused your headgasket to go on your sleeved bigbore. That is not metaphorical. You weren't running bad gas were you?

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Ron

 

ron, scroll back a few pages, i did give a responce on why i thought my head gasket gave up....it had NOTHING to do with the sleave giving up. i dont care how u look at man, a builder is a builder, yes there are certain things u need to be aware of but ultimatly the consumer is responceable for questions.. in certain instances i do see your point, but that one was a total "No Brainer" kinda like putting oil in the motor before u start it. Should the builder be responsible for telling them that?