Big Dawg

Hey guys,

In your personal experience which brand header gasket would you recommend on a 69 442 Oldsmobile with a 455.

Been reading lots of threads and lots of people say Fel Pro and then some are recommending the copper Mr Gasket ones.

I have Headman Full length headers....just dont want to change them and than still have a possible leak.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks guys

ELY442

I use copper header gasket with a thin bead of high temperature silicone on both sides of the gasket on my hedman headers. Never had an exhaust leak yet. You can get these gasket from Jegs or Summit.

Olds64

Then change back to exhaust manifolds.

Sorry to be a stick in the mud, but my experience is that my header gaskets always end up leaking. I change them once a year pretty religiously. Now I just get the cheapie exhaust manifold gaskets from FelPro since I know they're going to blow anyways.

oddball

Remflex are awesome. Super fragile though, so be careful.

ajr2820

I bought the Remflex for my build based on the reviews. Do they hold up as claimed? I haven't run my engine yet and have the cheapos installed for the break in.

joe_padavano

X2 on the Remflex. Just be sure to pay attention to the torque spec and do NOT overtorque the bolts when installing.

70cutty

Flatout Racing rubber coated copper gasket held up great on my 455. 30k miles and no leaks.

Also they can be reused, I've taken the headers off few times and bolt them back with the same gaskets, no issues.

Big Dawg

Okay thanks for the info guys.

My local parts supplier can get the RemFlex and Fel Pro 1439 gaskets.

So it will be one of these.

Thanks again guys

DROLDS707172

REMFLEX, have them on 2 of my cars, one has 5 years of daily driving with cheap stainwiss chinese headers, never had a leak.

Jeff99

Use manifold gaskets instead of header gaskets.

joe_padavano

Just out of curiosity, what do you call a "manifold gasket" vs a "header gasket"?

70cutty

The ones in the picture may be manifold gaskets that Jeff99 is referring to. I just don't understand why would he recommend them for use with headers.

Fun71

For me, it's because they work fine with my headers, they are available from every auto parts store (as in I don't have to order them), and they are cheaper than header gaskets.

I have a set of Heddman headers from the 1990s on my engine, and while the Fel Pro exhaust manifold gaskets work well on them, they may not work for other headers.

Jeff99

The are easy to get, cheaper and how often do manifolds leak? They have always worked good on headers for me when other gaskets made for headers fail ...

Macadoo

Another vote for the Remflex. I've had them on both shorty and full length headers and never had a problem. And I don't have to re-tighten them all the time like guys complain about with other gaskets. But, as has been said, they can be delicate.