Hey guys, One of my springs broke while I was on HRPT and got very lucky that it didn't do any damage. Got even more lucky when I realized that 6 of the springs had broken!! Got new springs, the upgraded stage 1 + or whatever TA called it. Also got new head gaskets but it looks like they're missing some coolant holes. Buick 455 stage 1 iron heads... Gasket TA sent me is: Felpro 84949 <-- is this correct? The Top left and top right are in the gasket but very small, is this intended to slow the coolant down or should they be bigger? At the bottom of the gasket, there are no holes. The block and the head both have three holes.
And the holes covered by the gasket do not require flow. They're there to aid core sand removal after the casting process. The gaskets you have are good to go. As already mentioned, the small holes are only there to prevent air pocket buildup, no flow required otherwise at those spots as well. Devon
Yes to all of the above! A good example of “altering” head gaskets from intended design happened back in the 80’s to my cousin, he put head gaskets on his ‘66 383 Charger, he noticed the holes weren’t were they were supposed to be or weren’t large enough, he laid the gasket on the block and used a hammer tapping on the gasket to cut holes to match the block, we took the car for a ride to the gas station about a 1/4 mile down the road, he shut it off, then restarted after fueling, and KERPOOOOOOW!!!! It back fired so bad it cracked a piston which sent the combustion pressure into the crankcase, then up to the valve covers and sent the breather flying across the parking lot (car didn’t have its hood on yet) I believe it was a lean backfire in that cylinder due to the coolant flow being “redirected” by his altering of the gasket
