Spesso gaskets - are they worth it?

[Neil Lewis]

Hi Fellas

The head gasket went on my 8 valve last Friday and I've now got the head off.  So now I need a new head gasket.  My old integrale only ever had standard head gaskets fitted and these seemed to last about 80,000 miles.

The gasket which came off has no sign of damage and the block and the head look fine.  The 20-year-old head bolts came out quite easily though so they'll be replaced.

So, given my new integrale is likely to stay with me for a while (and only has 48000 miles on the clock now) I'm considering fitting a Spesso gasket.  However, they're frighteningly expensive compared to standard so are they worth the money?  And where is the best place to get one?

Or should I just fit some uprated head bolts (and where do I get those)?

Quick answers required cos I want to put it all back together next weekend so it'll need to be ordered by Wednesday at the latest.

Cheers
Neil

[j886atv]

Neil

Trevor Nicosia (who is an LMC member) has the rights to Spesso in the UK.

He can be contacted here http://www.nyssaracing.com/shop/index.php with regards to ordering.

I haven't used him myself, but he's well known in the club due his racing exploits with a Kappa Turbo.

HTH
Duncan

[Neil Lewis]

I didn't really get a reply to my question so I bought one anyway.  I was going to buy the gasket from Trevor but Demon Tweeks are doing these on offer at the moment at £57.95 + VAT.  I get a discount so that came to just under £60 and the postage was shared with other stuff I bought at the same time.

The gasket looks superbly made.  It'll get it fitted this weekend but only time will tell if it lasts longer than a standard one.

Neil

[Keith Large]

Hello Neil,
I cosidered buying Spesso for my rebuild, but the price is quite frightening, I rang Tanc Barratt and he has all gaskets in stock that I may need (even though mine is 1600 HF ie Turbo) and really cheap. Try him for bolts. He also has many integrales and Deltas as scrappers.
Keith