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I finally got around to tearing the head off my engine. Cylinder 6 blew the steel fire ring out on the bottom side of the gasket. When I first popped the head off there was a chunk of the fire ring sitting on top of the piston. Should I be worried about this fire ring causing damage in the cylinder bore or valves in the head? Is that material soft enough to just be chewed up and spit out the exhaust without causing damage? I will be installing ARP head studs and an MLS gasket so if anyone has advice or things I should watch for when installing the studs and MLS I'm all ears.

Here are some pictures. Cylinder bores have lots of cross hatch which is nice to see.











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You need to rotate the assembly and take a look at #6 bore.

I turned it over tonight and #6 bore is spotless. Todd, is it best to install the MLS dry? I know on the Cometic site they say the gasket requires no sealant because the outter layers are coated with a Viton sealer from their factory.

Jared S wrote:I turned it over tonight and #6 bore is spotless. Todd, is it best to install the MLS dry? I know on the Cometic site they say the gasket requires no sealant because the outter layers are coated with a Viton sealer from their factory.

Yes, dry.

Make sure the head and block are perfectly clean and spotless. The MLS is less forgiving of any sort of debris or grit than a composite gasket.

The last one I put in leaked coolant from the front of the block for about two days before inexplicably stopping. It did stop though. Next one is going to get a thin coat of copper spray. That won't do anything to prevent damage from det but it will prevent those little pain in the ass leaks.

I'll go dry and get the block nice and clean. Thanks for the input guys.

I cleaned up the block today. I got it feeling nice and smooth but there is one spot with a very small amount of pitting. Should I be worried about this being a potential leak point with the MLS?

Drill the rivets out of the MLS, separate all the layers and spray all the surfaces with copper spray. Do not install it dry unless you have the block and head resurfaced.

I have installed it dry and sprayed both sides with copper gasket spray. Worked both ways without block or head being resurfaced.

I'm replacing any worn parts while I have it torn apart. Can someone tell me if this oil pump chain has too much slack in it? Should I be popping the pan off and shimming this pump or putting a new chain on? Do those pump gears normally look that way or are those gears worn down? The Bentley manual is completely useless regarding this oil pump chain. It says there should be a slight amount of deflection and if there is too much deflection add shims.......real fucking helpful.