quick gasket/ torque question
 

I recently installed JDL UEL catted headers and when I went to check the torque specs a day later the joint from header to over pipe needed tightening 26-27 lb. ft.. Some days later it sounded off and I found that it needed to be tightened again. It is a week now and it seems fine but if I do need to tighten it again, do you think that a metal gasket rather than the one JDL provided would work better? I don't know what the JDL is but it is a fiber of sorts and I expect will compress more than metal. The Grimspeed gaskets I used at the other connections never needed to be tightened again.

My personal take is that it's not the gasket. It's the location. That joint sees the most cyclic stress/strain from the engine rocking.

Rather than focusing on the gasket, I recommend using decent locknuts. The type that has a little crown on top which is slightly coined/dimpled. Use them once.

Someone with first hand experience may chime in but that's where I would start. Good luck.
Hows the weather in Albuquerque? I'm a UNM alum. Lived there between '92 and '00. I miss Los Cuates and good green chile. :)

At the moment it is in the 90`s, very windy.......and thinking about rain.

Took you 8 years to get your degree(s) ......... :eyebulge:


:D


humfrz

:slap:

No, six. I fucked around for a while on purpose. Took a bunch of other classes seeing if anything else clicked. It didn't but I deeply enjoyed the experience.

:lol:

Ya, I hear that. I started at Ohio State University in the college of engineering .... took me a year to figure out I wasn't smart enough for that. So, I transferred to the college of arts and sciences (Geology), decided there wasn't much demand for Geologists. Transferred to the college of agriculture ..... click.

I was a year into graduate level courses when Uncle Sam decided I had enough college exemptions and told me to take my last ROTC course and accept my commission ..... or they would draft my ass as a private.

Yep, took me 5 years.......:)


humfrz

Oh, yes, OP ...... lock washers are good things ....... it shouldn't take more than two tightening sessions ..... so, you are most like good to go.

Then you got a driver.

Well, ya, the Army wasn't going to leave me alone with live ammunition .....:D


humfrz

OE nuts are meant to be used only once. The problem is probably a combination of using the multi-layer paper gasket + loose nuts, since the paper gaskets seal well once, but tend to blow out if the flanges are not bolted tight together or if there is excessive heat.

Most aftermarket hardware gives you a locking washer, but people tend to torque it wrong after they apply the anti-seize compound.

-alex

I should have time to check if the torque has held this week. I have been out of town. If it has not I will try these things.