The 1009 Felpro overhangs the chamfer on the bore of a lot of BB Mopars especially late model ones. I don't know how they sell any of them.

Kevin

They probably fit great on 4.25 bore engines ...

I sold a local customer a set of Indy EZ heads to replace his mega-cracked ported 452 heads.
I had a couple of sets of "edelbrock" head gasket sets here, which at the time were the white Corteco .051 thick ones.
Blew a couple chunks out of them after only a couple of passes.
They didn't show any signs of being compressed at all.

There was no evidence of any other problems, and the motor had no issues with the steel shims that had been used with the iron heads.

I got him some Cometics, and it never bothered again.

IMO, those white Corteco gaskets fall into the "junk" catagory.
I wouldn't use them on anything after seeing them fail that quickly.

Is an .039 gasket safe with a zero-deck build? These seem to fit the bill for a .040 over 400 block (4.38 bore):
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel-1009/overview/make/chrysler

The 1009 gasket fits a 4.375" bore perfectly, but has NO room for error re: excessive chamfer at the top of the bore. I ran them w/o any issues for years at that bore size w/ my old ported OEM iron heads. If they hang over the edge, they're toast.

That's disappointing to hear... I had been told the only difference between the white ones and original orange DG gaskets was that the white coating disassembled easier. FWIW, the ones I have of both early & late style all measure the same uncompressed thickness of around .042".

The orange ones, which are all that I ever used w/ my Stage VI heads, left a good bit of the surface coating on both the head & deck surfaces, which was a PITA to clean off. But they didn't have any sealing or durability issues that I encountered.

I have a few sets of the orange DG-made ones still on hand simply because I had good results with them and bought some that I found in a vendor's remaining stock. They have a 4.41" bore and measure right about .040" compressed, and don't brinell the heads, either. 440Jim used them on some of his old builds, too, before going to Cometics.

I also bought two pairs of the discontinued white ones that Edelbrock sold under their gasket line because I thought they were the "improved" version. Sure doesn't sound like it after what you just said. Have never run the white ones myself, only the orange ones.

Per my comment above on the other thread that mentions the Fel-Pro 1009, NO.

From my experience, they're totally maxed out on bore size at 4.375". Even then, the bores need to not have any obvious chamfer at the top that allows that gasket to extend into combustion zone.

Thanks for the offer Pete, but I'm not interested in a new motor, especially not an RB. My 451 still should be just fine once I get this issue sorted out. And I its a really good fit for this car.

Sorry Brad, I missed your reference to the 1009. I'll keep looking at options.

I've had a few motors come through the shop that torched 1009's because of some bore overhang.
I simply won't use them on a 440/400 based engine anymore(haven't in years).
They are fine on 383/426 based motors though, as long as they are big enough to be out past the perimeter of the chamber.

For the most part, if it's a 440/400 based motor and I think it needs a better gasket than a Fel-Pro 8519, then it gets Cometics.

What do you consider the limit for the FP 8519PT? I have a set I use only for mockups, but never new if they're anything that could be used for my own builds. They strike me as kind of... marginal.

Without regards to the actual gasket in question itself/the bore size, in general a .039 thick gasket is good for a 0 deck build as far as piston to head clearance goes. Thats why everyone tries to build 0 deck and use a .039 gasket, it gives you good quench while still running a safe piston to head clearance.

Actually, I was going to loan it to you, not sell it. I do understand the fit issue because the RB motor takes up more room than the low deck. I don't have that problem in my project and could fit anything. We would have had to come up with an oiling system to fit your chassis, because my motor has an external pickup and pan for the truck chassis and that would not work for you. Good luck to you.

Using head gaskets that over hang the bores is a pretty obvious build mistake, and quick death if you are using a composite gasket ( verses MLS ). Never seen a bore that didn't have some chamfer. The problem is all chamfers aint the same ( pic ). Yes, those are factory chamfers on a .040 bore. Horrible! Went with MLS Cometics sized to the worse hole ( pic ) as the best solution. Something for the OP to look at during failure analysis. Still choking a bit on the "time to failure" thing.

Check it out with pressure tester then pull it down I would only fix the head gasket and then change oil a couple times in next 200 miles or so I have fixed many a blown head gasket and never pulled engine due to one unless rod is bent etc

Generally, street/strip motors that lean more towards the street side of things, up to around 550hp or so.
I've never had one fail on a motor I put together(none that I know of anyway).
I even put them on an 11.5:1 448 with EZ CNC 295 heads that made 675hp+.
Afaik they lived in that motor okay, but I don't think it saw that much use.
I wouldn't use them in that application nowadays, but I showed no fear at the time.

If you didn't drive the thing for a long time w/ the water and oil mixing, I'd pull the head and fix the gasket issue. Then change the oil, run it a while, change it again, etc.
It's easy enough to check for a bent rod w/ the motor in the car.

would just cranking the motor over with the starter be enough to bend a rod?

Most of suggestions are legit but this gentleman sounds like money is the issue? That's why I would do it the easy way and only take it apart if I had to beyond the head gasket. I also hate taking a car apart and not finishing it I have seen one to many fall threw the cracks and end up hanger queens or back yard I will get to it someday and rust away

Yes, you betcha I saw that happen while working in a service station on a customers car back in 1963, the owners Son squirted a small amount of water down the carb. with the air cleaner off while the onwer of the car was trying to start the then new 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix We had steamed clean the motor and it was not starting right away due to moisture in the distributor cap, it bent the 3rd rod back on the passenger side and seized the motor up