has anyone out there had any experience with using a .015" steel shim head gasket like the felpro #1094? somebody said he heard bad things about them but i've heard good things. what's your experience?

 

you need a good finish and a flat surface more so than a composition type gasket, but there is nothing inferior about a shim gasket.

 

i assembled my engine using steel shim gaskets, they work fine assuming you have good clean surfaces...

 

You'll probably want to use a spray adhesive like Permatack, just give the gaskets a shot like you're spray painting them and let them get tacky.

When I told the fellow doing my heads that I was using a shim gasket he put a finer finish on refacing them as the shim isn't as forgiving as a thick composite gasket.

 

Good advise guys. I use them all the time and have never had a problem. Axe

 

I used them when I did the mods (the stock gaskets were shims, by the way). I didn't do anything to the block but scrap off the old gasket material. The heads were new castings.

I sprayed aluminum paint on the gaskets just to be sure they sealed. They're rubber coated, but I took Felpro's surface finish warnings to heart. Been going fine since Nov. '01.

Used steel shims on the 396 as well (but used spray Coppercoat on them).