I will be finishing up my 2 week long gasket repair hopefully on Sunday. What should the break in be for head gaskets, intake gaskets, water pump, and headers? Should I let it idle for a while then drive it for a amount of time. Shut it off, wait a while, then do it again? What is the routine?

 

no break-in really for water pump or header gaskets. but typically i start the motor once, check for leaks, allow to reach operating temperature, then re-torque all newly installed gaskets with a torque wrench. allow motor to cool down before re-torquing. then start up and repeat once.

 

No offense, but I think you misread my post. I did install headers and water pump, but I was asking about HEAD gaskets. I'm thinking of starting it up and leaving it run for like 10 minutes before I drive it. Do you think that's ok?

 

well you should do that anyhow to make sure everyhitng sealed properly, and that you don't have any leaks or overheating problems.

 

there's no moving parts to get acquainted with one another, so why would there be a break in procedure?

 

Are you using some other kind of head gaskets other than the blue fel-pro's?? The fel-pro's don't need to be re-torqued.. and technically, if the intake and water pump gaskets were properly installed and don't leak, you don't need to re-torque those either. But - It never hurts to re-torque header gaskets after a couple of heat cycles though...

And why would'nt you run it for awhile prior to driving it?

 

He basically has to. Leaks? Top off the coolant after the thermostat opens, check all the fluid levels after running it, etc.