7afe head gasket on a 4age?

hexapus · 03-12-2009, 11:40 PM

Just got a new 2! Yay! Blew out the head gasket the first day! Boo! It was a pretty spectacular failure too...from running perfectly with no problems to PFFSSST! White steam/smoke spewing from all orifices. It was quite the thing to see! Parked it immediately, and got it towed to my mechanic's garage. (replacing my head gasket for free! Now that's friendship!)

I wanted to swap the head gasket out for one from a 7afe. I've heard this thrown about, and wanted to do it for a couple reasons...#1 is it's multilayer steel construction (heard those are tough as hell), and #2 is the modest boost in compression from the thinner gasket. Not too significant, but hey, it's free HP, and I'll take what I can get!

Here's the issue...my mechanic is nervous about putting the 7afe gasket on because of some smaller coolant passages on the corners. He sent me some pics comparing a stock 4age gasket to a 7afe gasket:

Top and Bottom Comparisons

So yeah, if anyone can tell me if the smaller coolant passages will hurt me, or if should stick to the stock (albeit, graphite, and inferior quality) gasket, I'd appreciate it! I suppose it's worth noting that this car will probably see an engine swap someday, as it's already got 225k on the clock, but I'd still like it to be a reliable (and fun) as possible until that time.

85silverna · 03-15-2009, 03:44 AM

what does anyone say about drilling out the passages in the gasket? I'd be interested in doing this as well...

hexapus · 03-15-2009, 12:12 PM

I finally went ahead and pulled the trigger on this one...after looking up the "stock" (not OEM) HG from autozone, and comparing it to the 7afe one the coolant passages were exactly the same as the 7afe one...so even if I'd gotten the "correct" one, I'd still have the two smaller holes instead of the one big one in each corner. I decided to just go for it, since the entire heads on the 7afe and 4age are interchangeable...the gasket definitely should be.

Didn't bother cutting or drilling the gasket in any way...I'll keep ya posted on how it works!

iceNine · 03-16-2009, 01:39 PM

Pardon me for asking but why don't you just use a metal type head gasket made for the 4ag? I just received one from Comtec and it is several layers and looks pretty good quality wise. Also with some other metal gaskets you can get them any thickness (within reason) that you want.

hexapus · 03-16-2009, 08:06 PM

Well, for one, it was kind of a crunch situation...i.e. this is my DD, so I needed one I could go pick up...didn't want to wait on a cometic from Ebay. Secondly, I didn't know I could choose different thicknesses for the 4age gasket. Finally, after looking it up, it looks like the coolant passages on a 4age gasket from the same manufacturer are the same anyway...that's just how the metal ones seem to be constructed.

*shrug*, so I guess it should be fine.

03-12-2009, 11:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
hexapus No Skills Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 45 Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	7afe head gasket on a 4age? Just got a new 2! Yay! Blew out the head gasket the first day! Boo! It was a pretty spectacular failure too...from running perfectly with no problems to PFFSSST! White steam/smoke spewing from all orifices. It was quite the thing to see! Parked it immediately, and got it towed to my mechanic's garage. (replacing my head gasket for free! Now that's friendship!) I wanted to swap the head gasket out for one from a 7afe. I've heard this thrown about, and wanted to do it for a couple reasons...#1 is it's multilayer steel construction (heard those are tough as hell), and #2 is the modest boost in compression from the thinner gasket. Not too significant, but hey, it's free HP, and I'll take what I can get! Here's the issue...my mechanic is nervous about putting the 7afe gasket on because of some smaller coolant passages on the corners. He sent me some pics comparing a stock 4age gasket to a 7afe gasket: Top and Bottom Comparisons So yeah, if anyone can tell me if the smaller coolant passages will hurt me, or if should stick to the stock (albeit, graphite, and inferior quality) gasket, I'd appreciate it! I suppose it's worth noting that this car will probably see an engine swap someday, as it's already got 225k on the clock, but I'd still like it to be a reliable (and fun) as possible until that time.

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03-15-2009, 03:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
85silverna OT's PIMP(le) Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Clarence NY Posts: 682 Thanks: 2 Thanked 33 Times in 32 Posts iTrader Rating: (6/100% )	what does anyone say about drilling out the passages in the gasket? I'd be interested in doing this as well...

03-15-2009, 12:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
hexapus No Skills Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 45 Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I finally went ahead and pulled the trigger on this one...after looking up the "stock" (not OEM) HG from autozone, and comparing it to the 7afe one the coolant passages were exactly the same as the 7afe one...so even if I'd gotten the "correct" one, I'd still have the two smaller holes instead of the one big one in each corner. I decided to just go for it, since the entire heads on the 7afe and 4age are interchangeable...the gasket definitely should be. Didn't bother cutting or drilling the gasket in any way...I'll keep ya posted on how it works!

03-16-2009, 01:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
iceNine Some Skills Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Maryland USA Posts: 61 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Pardon me for asking but why don't you just use a metal type head gasket made for the 4ag? I just received one from Comtec and it is several layers and looks pretty good quality wise. Also with some other metal gaskets you can get them any thickness (within reason) that you want.

03-16-2009, 08:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
hexapus No Skills Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 45 Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Well, for one, it was kind of a crunch situation...i.e. this is my DD, so I needed one I could go pick up...didn't want to wait on a cometic from Ebay. Secondly, I didn't know I could choose different thicknesses for the 4age gasket. Finally, after looking it up, it looks like the coolant passages on a 4age gasket from the same manufacturer are the same anyway...that's just how the metal ones seem to be constructed. shrug, so I guess it should be fine.