These were recommended to me by someone who had some pretty good success with them, so I bought a set for my headers. When I first opened the package, it fell apart into 3 different gaskets, and I couldn't tell which ones were supposed to go together and which ones weren't. Some were half broken, flaking apart, whatever. In the picture you can see where it only has to two spot welds that hold it together and you can see how they've broken from the rigorous stresses of being in the package. They're falling to pieces on me and I'm going to go with somethig else. I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of quality in these. The two pictured I think were originally 1 gasket, and the other 2 arein my car, but after removing the headers once, these "reusable" gaskets have just lost all their structural integrity entirely. But I was wondering if anyone else had noticed the change or had any problems with it. For $40 I expected a little better than what I got. You can see here how they used to stitch weld the layers together. This picture is from Summit and it's the 66011 part just like what I have in my picture. So they've apparently changed the way they've manufactured these and sacrificed the quality in the process. I know they're only header gaskets, but I figured I'd give you guys a headsup on it for those of you taht were fans of these before.

i have had mine for over 2 years with no leaks! they didnt look like the pic you have, they look like the pic on the bottom.

I'll never use them again. I put them on my car once and they literally burned out and disintegrated. Despite checking the header bolts every week.

Felpro gaskets for me.

If you have good flat flanges on your headers, there's nothing better than the stock sheetmetal manifold gaskets that came with your car.
Even with imperfections in the header flange, I just dab a little UltraCopper RTV in the low spots and they seal just fine. And they never need retorquing after installation.

what happens when the exhaust ports on your cylinder heads are bigger than those gaskets though? that's the problem kyle had, so i suggested the percy's. when i grabbed them out of the package when we were doing the header install, i was dissappointed needless to say.

interesting...i was planning on using these for my build...now i may have to look for something else

I used them once......once.

so these are a bad idea i have a pair out in the garage unopened with the receipt but mine look like the ones on the bottom?

THe ones that seem to be crappy are the ones like mine with only the two spot welds.

They must have changed them. I have used them several times in the past and have been happy with them. I am using earl's now. Thats what dyno don recomended. We will see how they hold up.

The top pic looks funny. There is several layers on each gasket. The first time I opened the box I was a little confused. The pic on the bottom looks like what I got.

I have and am still running them with GREAT sucess.

I'm certain the ones you got were defective or damaged, mine looked just like the bottom pic and they were each one piece.

I have used them with poor success. They leak terribly.

I recommend any dead soft copper gasket. Copper expands when heated and fills imperfections. This is why copper makes excellent head gaskets as well.


Copper is what I use on my vette.

i am going through ultra-seals like crazy, i bought my headers used but they looked good when i installed them. they leak BAD. i guess i am gonna try doubling up on the gaskets and see how that goes. i have the percy's aluminum crush gaskets but they are square port, i have heard good things about them. idk what to use i dont care what the price is i just want something to actually seal. its a pita to change these gaskets in my car with a/c and everything, they are T.E.S headers. there is nothing i cant stand more than exhaust leaks.

never used these but have used the copper ones with good results

Infernal:

Sorry to hear you had problems with the gaskets. However, the problem is not due to the product itself. I have used these gaskets with a lot of success on my LT1 cars; you just have to recheck your header bolts and snug them up until the aluminum has quit compressing. Another good gasket they have, that does not require a retorque, is the XX Carbon. I'm going to try them on my next engine change. Keep in mind that if you don't have a true (flat) header flange, you will have problems making any gasket last.

Where did you buy those gaskets? It appears the person who sold them to you ripped you off. The Percy's gaskets are 6 layers of aluminum for EACH gasket. Also, you can see your gaskets are deformed from where the person tore the individual layers apart to sell you a "set".

Please let me know where the gaskets came from so I know to never get any from there.

ryan, i was helping with all the installation of the exhaust system on infernal's car. i tell you i am not lying, the stitch welds that hold the 6 layers together did not exist. it's like they packaged them before the last step was taken and quality control did not catch it. weird i know, but that's the truth. it's not a leaky condition that was the problem necessarily, the leaky condition happend as a result of a lack of quality control. that is the complaint here. i used a set myself for a longtime without issues, but with headers coming out and going back in so often as i was having to do at the time, the gaskets eventually tore up. i've been using ultra-seals now for a while and haven't had any issues from them. and they're MUCH cheaper than the percy's. there is no way for the gaskets to be pulled apart when the stitch welding is in place.

My Percy's Deadsoft Header gaskets did thew same thing.Fell apart when removed from the packaging.

I bought some late last year for my old LT1 and they looked exactly like the picture from summit. No real world experience with them after install because I sold the car without really driving it.

I will be ordering another set for when the longtubes go on my trans am.

I have copper for over a year now of daily driving and not one issue. SLP headers.

They were brand new in the package, straight from Jegs. I opened the shipping box myself and saw that they were straight out of the box like that from the factory. The only person that ripped me off is Percy himself.

As I PM'd and told InfernalVortex yesterday, I now work for Percy's. This is the second situation where a header gasket was purchased then returned and resold. The gaskets that Infernal got were a set that was returned then sent back out. It appears that some people are buying them, pulling off 4 or 5 layers, then returning what's left for a refund. I just received a call yesterday from a person that bought a set from a chain store with the exact problem. I am sending him a new set of gaskets in exchange for his gaskets, packaging, and receipt so we can get to the bottom of what is going on.

I'm not new to F bodies (I've had 2 3rd gens and 5 4th gens; still have one) and I have used these gaskets, with great success, on my F bodies and some V8 S10's I've built. You just have to realize that you need to keep an eye on the bolt tightness until the gasket has finally compressed to it's minimum thickness (as with any header gasket). After that, no retorquing should be necessary. I usually carry a wrench in my glovebox (I taped a piece of stranded and insulated wire to the cut off wrench so if I drop it, I can just grab the wire and retrieve it) so I can look over the bolts for the first 10 or so start ups.

Percy's also just released the "Split Lock" header bolts that lock with a small set screw in the center. I have used these on 2 of my V8 S10's that had problems with the bolts backing out and this fixed it. I'm also probably going to be installing a set in my wife's convertible when I get a chance since the 4th gens are a PITA to get to a couple of the bolts.

Any other issues or questions, anyone can contact me here via PM, on my AIM at aldersgarage, or at my work email ryan.alder at percyshp dot com

Ryan