The team at Engine Parts Group brought several new products and additions to the catalog to this year’s PRI Show, including a series of multi-layer steel head gaskets for GM engines and a clever new windage tray for classic Chrysler engines.
The multi-layer steel head gaskets, a new product line that Engine Pro’s Jesse Jones says has been “absolutely flying off the shelf,” is available in three, five, and seven layers, depending on the amount of “crush” and compression ratio adjustment you’re looking for. These are concentrated on GM’s Gen III and IV LS and Gen V LT platforms, specifically severe-duty nitrous, turbocharged, and supercharged engines. It also offers MLS gaskets for Duramax diesel applications, as well. Engine Pro is utilizing an OE manufacturer for these that uses a premium material, and the part numbers in its catalog even align to OE head gasket part numbers.
“These are all spring steel, Jones says,” adding, “I’m always nervous when it comes to head gaskets, because people can make a good looking head gasket, but the technology is in the spring rate, in the coatings that are applied, and of course they need a good finish. This is a big offering for us.”
Jumping from the new-age LS over to the classic Mopar big-block and Wedge/Hemi of the good old days, a product the company is excited about expanding into is a windage tray for the Chrysler 383, 400, and 440 big-blocks, and the 426 Hemi and Wedge, that significantly reduces of not all but eliminates the risk of oil leakage outside the pan versus more basic offerings.
“The old windage trays were a steel piece and you put a cork gasket on one side and a cork gasket on the other side — what could possibly go wrong there? So this is a molded tray, sealing elements are put on the both sides, so you’ve eliminated a lot of potential leak spots. You don’t use any ’goo’ on it…no Permatex or any RTV, it will seal just the way it is,” Jones explains.
The tray also has load limiters built in so those who over-torque the tray can be protected from their own bad habits.