What is the advantage of these one-piece shim type gaskets ?
Are they just cheaper ? Do they hold more pressure between an iron block and iron heads ?
Better at withstanding higher temperatures ?
Less sensitive to surface finish ?
They seem to last extremely long times, I still pull apart 440 340 318 273s... with the original ones still functioning. They should survive overheating better as they expand and contract at pretty much the exact same rate as the iron block and head. They are cheap. You don't lose any compression if you are low on compression ratio, if you got an engine like a 77 400 or 318 4bbl "cop engine" than your already bad compression ratios turn to Briggs and Stratton compression ratios if you put on thicker composite head gaskets.
