thrustnut Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Hey all, I have a P90 head with a header and Arizona Z intake and am not sure which gasket to run. I ordered a header gasket for a P90 head from Motorsport, but it didden't have the upper holes required for the AZ intake. Im just wondering what others with carb setups and square port heads are doing. Im thinking an N42 gasket might work...any ideas? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I've got an MSA gasket on my P79 w/ SU carbs. All I had to do was mark and drill the holes needed for mounting the intake manifolds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 I did that too and it blew out again. I dont was to "make somthing work". Im looking for the right part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Where did it blow out, on the intake or exhaust side? Are the exhaust and intake manifolds flat? Did you apply any form of sealer? How does the mating surface on the head look? It may not be a problem with the gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 It blew out on the exhaust side on number 5 cyliner, yes the surfaces are flat. The head is a fresh O/H and looks to be flat. I did not use any sealent on the gasket, I never needed it before. The header flange is pretty thin, and after talking to my Dad im planing to run a sealent on the next gasket. All I wanted to know is what gasket would have the intake bolt holes at the top of the gasket required to install the carborated manafold. As I said before, I drilled the last gasket I got from MSA, and would like to have the correct one before installing it. I dont know about everyone else, but theres a point where I just get sick of making somthing else work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I have only dealt with EFI heads and motors, and I have no idea about the AZ manifold, I am just going to suggest this to you: I've always run the universal felpro gasket that O'Reilly's usually always has in stock. I have circle port headers and they fit the square or circle ports. I have never had problems with them in terms of leakage or anything. You may want to go to an O'Reilly's and see if it will work with your application. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 You use fel-pro gaskets with headers? I had a fel-pro I put on with my engine build because I had to move my car and hadden't got my MSA gasket in the mail yet and I blew it out in like four places driving from one side of town to the other. I have always been under the impression that you only want to use header gaskets with a header. I guess I can give it a try with some sealent and see how it goes. Cheep exparament anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Well, mine isn't leaking any. I've got about 2,000 hard miles on this gasket. They are About $11 IIRC so yes, it is a cheap experiment. [Grrrr spelling and no shift keys...] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Best bet would be any early style square port gasket. The N42 head, though it had square exhaust ports still came on FI equipped cars. I'd be inclined to think that one meant for an E88 or E31 would be perfect. It'll have the square ports, but won't have holes for FI mounting, only the carb mount holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2eighTZ4me Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Good luck finding a stock gasket from anywhere but Nissan. Most parts suppliers (WorldPac - Beck Arnley etc.) have all superseded their intake gaskets to the "generic" P90 style hex port gasket because they will work on all applications. I have tried many many places for my 78 gasket, and no matter what year you order for (70-83) you get the hex port gasket. You didn't blow out your gasket because you drilled holes in it for the intake - you more than likely have a warped header. You mentioned the flange was thin - well there ya go. Situations like that, I'd recommend using 2 gaskets. Drill them for the intake bolts, and then slather them together with anti-seize. The anti-seize will bond them together, and is heat resistant. Then you have 2 gaskets' worth of thickness to "squeeze into" to accomodate for any warpage in the header. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Fel-Pro gasket. You don't have to use a "header gasket" - in fact - a header gasket is a bit weaker because it doesn't have the metal inside. Most of them are just thick paper. I've heard of some folks soaking them in water for a while to make them swell before installing/torquing - but if you have to do that, you have problems elsewhere. (i.e. warped header flange) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 The old MSA header gasket I had on my N47 head had a anti-seize soft material on the outside an it actually came apart when I removed the header. The new ones are kinda cruddy, nothing special. Im gonna try the stock fel-pro (your right 2eightT, the gaskets are one size fits all now) coated with roofing tar. My Dad said thats what they did to there American cars back in the day when they blew header gaskets out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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