clawson

I am debating on whether or not to get my head fire-ringed or oringed. The only reason i am debating is because i have heard that fire-rings do not last as long as orings.

I do not mind retorqing the head every few months or so. I would just like to fire-rings because they hold more, but if they are not as reliable then i will just oring it.

If you have your head oringed or fire-ringed then please let me know the good and the bad about both, and if you regret the decision and wish you would have done something else.

Thanks,
Chris

cummnz4x4pwr

If im not mistaken fire ringing is only if you do the head and the block
oringing is just the head

OR THATS HOW IVE ALWAYS LOOKED AT IT

Jake

clawson

you can fire ring the head only

luke h

well my heads fire ringed but i cant reallt tell you how well it is since ive had a stock turbo since ive owned the truck. but ive had it since august i think and its been fine no leaks as of yet. ill find out how strong they are once i get a phat shaft though

Crimedog

the way I understand it is o rings are cut into the head only, while fire rings cut the block and the head, as well as cut out the compression ring in the head gasket. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, though

Crawler

O-rings are made of a 41-51 thousanths thick wire that is hammered into a interference fit groove that can be cut into the head, the block, or both.

Generally the o-ring is set-up to press directly into the center of the firering in the gasket in order to keep it from distorting, under extreme cylinder pressures.




Fire-Rings are metal rings ranging in size from .105 to .125 thick.

Fire rings use a groove cut into the block, head, or both surfaces.
Personally the only way that I'd do fire rings is to put half of the groove in the head and the other half in the block.

The headgasket has the factory fire ring cut out and the steel ring essentially takes its place once assembled.







In an o-ring set-up the gasket is responsible for holding cylinder pressure and fluids. The o-ring merely strengthens the gaskets' fire ring strenth.


In a fire-ring set up the replacement ring holds in the compresion while the gasket is solely responsible holding in the fluids.



Hopefully all of this is as clear as mud. I'm running on very little sleep, so I hope I didn't give any false info.

Later,
Wes

RowJ

I have firerings... head only. I think the bad rep they have in some circles is due to poor installs, when they first came on the scene, ..... not poor quality materials. I think it's a good system. Mine is going on two yrs with no problems.
Better than O-rings? I can't say. Have seen both hold a lot of cylinder pressure/boost with no problems.

What's most important, IMO, is quality of workmanship in leveling the head and cutting the grooves!

RJ

displacedtexan

I am FAR from an expert on this subject... But that makes a lot of sense, this is not an area that I would even consider cutting corners in...