Be thankful you had a 3mm HG...if not you might be dealing with a blown motor instead of a 300 dollar gasket.

 

That is very true and Im thankful my motor is not damaged. But would it be a good idea to try and re-tq the studs? Or is it too late, and just put in an OEM gasket and try tuning again.

 

if the HG looks like this, it's toast, you will need to re-buy OEM ones to put on the outside of the spacer

(See the missing black?)

 

Yeah i see that. I havent pulled the head off yet, but im very close to being there. Hopefully its not a cracked sleeve

 

i think you would be the first person ever to crack a sleeve from power, i doubt thats the issue here

 

Did you pull the plugs right after a hard pull and shutdown? If not, you may not see any detonation signs on the plugs because the aluminum speckles that got on the plugs from your hard pull would now be burned off if you kept driving and then pulled the plugs.

 

Is it me for does it seem like these 3mm are a PITA, it seems like there topic after topics about these things giving out.

 

As with anything, you usually only hear about the bad and never the good.

 

I almost spit out my drink

 

IMO Its because people running these gaskets are pushing the cars and the boost limits. Everyone running these 3mm gaskets are pushing 20 or so pounds of boost on pump gas. The big problem is if you have any detonation you lift the head, get compression between cylinders which messes up the viton sealant on the gasket and at the same time usually pushes air into the cooling system. They key is a good tune and NO detonation.
I've seen a fair share of blown OEM gaskets (usually on built motors), its just that there are a LOT more people with gaskets than built motors..