Engine Gasket Kit

[Guest]

Hey guys,

I have been looking for a complete engine gasket set for my '81 550. I have heard other members mention to not use the Athena gaskets because they were junk. I am a big OEM fan of gaskets, but after extensive searching I cannot find an OEM gasket kit. Has anyone used the gasket kit from Z1 enterprise? http://www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDet...t&item=MAGK137 It looks good, but doesn't mention what brand the gaskets are. Just wondering if anyone has used them and quality of it.

[cowboyup3371]

You'll be better off to buy them individually as complete kits for the 550T don't exist (and I spent much time looking for them)

[Dogma]

Z1 can get all the usual OEM parts if you call or email for a quote. The stuff on their site is in stock, ready to ship. OEM, they have to order in, then ship back out to you. Tell Z1 what rebuild you're doing and they can put together a package of what you need.

The gasket sets are included on a page of the parts diagrams called "optional", and not all the retailers show this page. It took me forever to discover that. That same page has some of the special lubes the service manuals mention, as well as paint. Funny, I only see black and maroon for the 550T. I thought they were all green. I just looked up the part number for the gasket set at Alpha Sports and found 11400-47843. A Google search on that turned up a page at Partzilla saying the part number was superceded by 11400-47844 (obsolete).

Some more searching on that part number might turn up something, but you have to make sure it's not a 3rd party replacement for OEM. eBay is bad for that. I got lucky and scored a NOS set for my 1000G, but they shipped it in a manila envelope. I had to straighten a non-critical part of the head gasket.

[eil]

Best bet is to order all OEM gaskets individually.

Second best bet, if you're on a budget, is to order OEM base and head gaskets and then try your luck with aftermarket gaskets for the rest from Z1. They generally carry quality stuff and their customer service is top-notch, so I have no doubt they'd work with you if they sold you a gasket that leaked too soon.

EDIT: If the 550 has a tach drive in the valve cover instead of in the head, get an OEM gasket for the valve cover too.

[cowboyup3371]

EDIT: If the 550 has a tach drive in the valve cover instead of in the head, get an OEM gasket for the valve cover too.

it does sit in the valve cover

[bwringer]

The part number for the OEM complete gasket kit has been superceded several times to 11401-47830. Unfortunately, that's still listed as no longer available.

Hard to tell what kind of gaskets are in the Z1 kit -- they do give OEM part numbers for each piece, but at that price it's clearly not OEM. It's also not complete -- the intake o-rings and several other bits (mostly various bolt and plug seals) are not included.

It's honestly not worth taking the risk of needing to re-do the job or damaging your engine. Yes, the OEM head gasket is expensive, but everything else is fairly reasonably priced. The various o-rings and head and base gaskets are especially critical, and aftermarket parts are well-known to be inferior.