Originally Posted by Porschefile

Yeah but, increased cylinder pressure will require more clamping force to keep the head on the block. Fiber type gaskets don't work nearly as well as metal gaskets at maintaining clamping force. More hp and more boost is going to require more clamping force. ST may have gotten away with it for awhile (I'm still surprised) but, recently he's had trouble with head lifting so I wouldn't exactly take that example to mean you can run 30psi on stock studs and a stock/widefire HG with a good tune. Hell, in other car circles, most people don't tend to use fiber HG's over 300-350whp as it's just a waste of time when a metal headgasket will work better and be safer. In fact, this is the only group where I've ever even seen people talk about, think about, and even attempt to run fiber gaskets over 450whp. There's a reason a large amount of car manufacturers (including Porsche as previously mentioned) have moved to metal gaskets on stock production cars.

Todd, I believe there was someone here that posted about blowing an MLS gasket (could have been another forum though). It's definitely possible. Serious detonation can blow holes through pistons and it can certainly damage MLS gaskets. MLS gaskets are much more resistant to detonation and other factors though, so they are less likely to be damaged than a fiber/oem/widefire gasket will. The whole "fuse" method is kind of an urban myth or misconception. That's kind of like using a weak clutch so that you don't put down too much power and break the axles. It's just not the right way to go about it. If someone blows an MLS headgasket, I'd be willing to bet that it was a result of horrible detonation, in which case anything in and around the combustion chamber would be prone to destruction.

Originally Posted by Bill

For the past year and a half, My boost has been set at 22 psi. I use a wide fire head gasket with O-rings in the head. The O-rings, a five angle valve job and some port work were done at Lindsey Racing.

Originally Posted by toddk911

Ok, gotcha.

Yea, I am pretty set on going MLS and new head bolts/studs.

So you can o ring the head and run a MLS gasket???

Recomendations on studs/bolts?

Originally Posted by Bonestock951S

Would having the head set-up for o-rings, not installing them, and running an MLS head gasket make the engine more prone to leaks? Just curious if it's not a bad idea to at least set up your car for o-rings, even if you aren't currently using them.

-Darwin

Originally Posted by RKD in OKC

So, what is the next most likely thing to break under pre-detonation if you have an o-ringed head, race fasteners, race rods, and thermal coated pistons...

1. Deformed wrist pins.

2. Stretched girdle.

3. Both

Originally Posted by clouddomino

So anybody had experience with both o-ringing the head and the block. Or both separately? My block's o-ringed. But I've never had experience with an o-ringed head. Is one better than the other? Is it possible to do both?

Originally Posted by Porschefile

I wouldn't o-ring the head but, that's just me. I'd definitely go with ARP or Raceware head studs.