Turbine Inlet Copper gaskets

[Tomas]

So this is the 2nd time I've had some fail with the SS gaskets on the turbine inlet.
Anyone ever try copper gaskets? I know for the DP they work OK. Just wondering if copper is heat resistant enough for the turbine inlet.
There are a few vendors that sell them

T25/T28 Turbo Inlet Gasket, Heavy Duty, 0.043" Copper Columbia River Mandrel Bending

[btstarcher]

@PHAUZZY; had/has gasket issues. Maybe y'all can collaborate? Don't recall the specifics but I think that's the same one.

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[nekret]

I know this kind of sucks, but if you can you might want to check the mating surfaces to see if they're flat using a straight edge and feeler gauges. If the flanges are warped/uneven, gaskets won't last long if at all.

[Jarods7920]

Yeah, that was going to be my suggestion. If you're blowing gaskets perhaps the surfaces are not true.

[Tomas]

I will check when I change the gasket.
But the surfaces were true when first installed. It's a full race manifold mated to an EFR7163 terboh so pretty good quality shit.

[PHAUZZY]

Well, l I'm using a different manifold and turbo but yes I was having gasket issues. My solution? I don't run a gasket at all, copper should be plenty good and we actually used copper spray on the turbo and mani then bolted everything down no issues since

[Tokay444]

I thought the same about TiAL being quality shit, but I had to hand lap every mating surface flat, and it's clear to see by the tri-oval distortion pattern on all their V-band flanges that they just grab each one in a three jaw chuck and face them. Fuckin' sloppy if you ask me.
I'm talking flanges that hadn't even been welded on to anything yet as well.

[jdmage_mx5]

Noob question Tokay but how would one go about lapping the mating surface? I'm talking decent set of tools but definitely no machinist equipment.

[nekret]

Disclaimer: never done this myself!

I've heard you can use a decently flat surface (thick piece of glass or granite is ideal) tape sand paper to it and slide the surface in question across the sand paper using even pressure and circular motion. If a really smooth surface is desired, repeat with a finer grit until you get to a surface you like.

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[Turbo_Steve]

Lots of folks swear by using remflex gaskets.

They offer a t25 inlet

Turbo Gaskets/Garrett, Greddy T25

These will take a ton of abuse and will squish to allow sealing of imperfect flanges.

A little info

Exclusive features

[Hargarbl]

Remflex are fantastic, me and my pops were fighting a header gasket leak forever on the old project car, new gaskets would only last a week or so before they blew out. Snagged a set of Remflex and havent had a problem since.

Just something to keep in mind, remflex are quite a bit thicker than standard gaskets because they are made to crush down to fill in the imperfections. Keep this in mind if you have very tight tolerances.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by jdmage_mx5 Noob question Tokay but how would one go about lapping the mating surface? I'm talking decent set of tools but definitely no machinist equipment.

For the smaller wastegate flanges I used a large, machinist's honing stone.
For the larger ones, like the turbine outlet, I did as mentioned above. Taped some 400 grit wet/dry to my granite surface plate.
Always move in a figure 8 pattern and try to maintain full contact whenever possible.
As an aside to the last post, tight tolerances don't meant tight fits. Tolerances and allowances are two different aspects of manfacturing that are often misused interchangeably.

[Tomas]

The remflex gaskets look interesting. The picture shows a SS gasket but the description says they are composed of graphite.
Just ordered one. I will post pics when received.
The reviews on longevity are mixed however. At least one of them. Seems they are pretty good at sealing but longevity could be an issue.

Avoid REMFLEX gaskets - NASIOC


Copper melting point is about 1900 degs F. That might be ok but since I don't know of any racing applications using it on the turbine inlet I am not sure if it will hold. The one interwebz reference I found is also mixed.

Anyone using COPPER turbo inlet gasket? | DSMtuners