Block O-ring?

7Matt-GE

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Nov 18, 2009
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Becker, Minnesota
so i found my machine shop (after being recommended heavily to them) for my supra! :) so im gunna start getting price quotes here soon for my build (felt like doing the NA/T build for fun) and i was checking out their website an they offer something called a engine block o-ring? (explanation below)

Block o-ring:

Your engine will make power by developing cylinder pressure. It is this pressure that "pushes" the piston and spins the crankshaft. When you start to develop excess cylinder pressure (Blower, Turbo, or Nitrous) you will put excess stress on the head gasket. This often results in a blown headgasket. Although not the end of the world, nobody likes to have to tear down the motor to install new headgaskets! By machining a round groove around the cylinder bore and inserting a special wire you will create a stronger barrier for the cylinder pressure and head gasket life will be greatly improved. You will see that many people will put the o-ring in the head rather than the block, this is typically because the head can be o-ringed without removing the block. The fact is the head is more likely to warp in the future and require re-machining of this groove and will not result in as strong a seal. Although it may be tempting it is not recommended to run both! The problem is a small amount of movement in the head when it is bolted to the engine will result in the wire circles not lining up perfectly. This will result in a worse seal than if no o-ring had been installed at all!



anyone heard of this before?? seems interesting and worth investing in but would any of you consider it?

http://www.dgmotors.biz/default.htm this is their website
 

oldsking

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Mar 19, 2009
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Def a good thing to have done :) Real performance race cars that run excess boost (upwards of 2000hp) usually go about doing such things. If you ever heard of Mike Moran (pro street racer) he had built a chevy motor running 4 turbos and one of the block prepping procedures was O-ring the block. This is usually is costly but very worth the money. Also finding the machine shop to do it is another mission. I say if you are going to go the extra few yards, do this!
 

Suprapowaz!(2)

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Apr 10, 2006
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I heard of someone with a 7m O-ringing their block. Some may say that our cylinders are too close together for it to be done properly.
What does that service cost? If it's way too much you may want to consider using an HKS stopper gasket. They're known to hold some mighty HP.
 

7Matt-GE

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Nov 18, 2009
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well ill check it out when i call these guys for price quotes. i don't think ill be doing a major HP build (550 or a little more possibly eventually) i figured it might be a good preventative measure? but if the stopper is cheaper than the o ring maybe ill go that route if i really deem it necssisary for either. this shop really seems top notch though they seem to know what they're doing from what people tell me.

seems like a good idea though! :)
 

toyotanos

What will we break today?
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Doug and Guy did very good work to my engine, but I would suggest staying with a regular head gasket setup, my cometic 2mm is holding up very nicely so far.

Also expect a $5k bill for them to completely build your engine, and more if they assemble it. The machine work was very high quality and the specs were all very consistant. I would suggest them for sure!
 

7Matt-GE

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toyotanos;1578143 said:
Doug and Guy did very good work to my engine, but I would suggest staying with a regular head gasket setup, my cometic 2mm is holding up very nicely so far.

Also expect a $5k bill for them to completely build your engine, and more if they assemble it. The machine work was very high quality and the specs were all very consistant. I would suggest them for sure!

yeahh i heard they are expensive, maybe ill get them to machine parts of the engine gradually :p im a poor kid.
 

toyotanos

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Bets plan I can suggest is save, save, save. I saved up $7500 before I even started pulling the engine out so I was guaranteed to get stuff done, rather than take up lots of space waiting and such. You might consider picking up a stock turbo Supra- I think you'll be very impressed with their bpu pulling ability. Your butt dyno reads a lot higher than a chassis dyno. ;)
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
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Not enough room between cylinders to o-ring a 7M.....
(exception to this is a figure 8 o-ring around 2 cylinders but very expensive)

Stick with the tried and true route.
 

7Matt-GE

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Nov 18, 2009
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Becker, Minnesota
toyotanos;1578165 said:
Bets plan I can suggest is save, save, save. I saved up $7500 before I even started pulling the engine out so I was guaranteed to get stuff done, rather than take up lots of space waiting and such. You might consider picking up a stock turbo Supra- I think you'll be very impressed with their bpu pulling ability. Your butt dyno reads a lot higher than a chassis dyno. ;)

hahaha saving is close to impossible for me! i almost pay as much as i make sadly *sigh* but im gunna get this all figured out before i do it. i did see some supras for sale but lets see what happens by tax time maybe there will be one available by then! :O if not im goin this route still.