Yesterday I drove about 400 miles from Northern CA down to a reputable tuner in the Southern CA area. This morning I took the car in, explained the work I've done on it and that I would like to turn her up to about 13 PSI. My car is a 93 (manufacturing date June '92), original motor with 30K miles.

The mechanic was concerned about increasing boost because of the paper LIM gasket. I know the paper gaskets are pieces of ****, but mine appears to be fine at this time. Is adding another few PSI of boost really likely to be a factor in its demise?

 

YES -- time to switch to metal.
tough job, but worth every swear

I think it would be a combo blow out of increased fuel vapor and pressure. It would be a ticking time bomb in your build.

I changed my paper LIM gasket 5 years ago on a '93 (man. in '92) with 44,000 miles. The gasket was sealing but came of in 3-4 pieces.

 

yes and no..... but because its not 100% no...... that makes it a yes. dont mess around with it, trust your tuner with this one and everything else

 

Will it work? Maybe. But it is a time bomb, it WILL fail at some point.

Dale

 

I'm surprised to hear this. I've used the stock non-metal LIM gasket on my & other FCs for years running boost at those same 1bar or less levels for YEARS and never had an issue with them. Are the FD paper LIM gaskets made so much cheaper and crappier than the FC equivalent parts that it makes a difference? I suppose the reasoning is that the twin turbos dump much more heat in the general LIM area than a single turbo FC/FD would have to deal with, hence the switch to metal gaskets.

 

the FD paper gaskets failed pretty regularly.

in addition to changing the intake gasket, you also should change the turbo water hoses, and probably put a clamp on the white turbo solenoids hoses (or zip tie or whatever), and make sure that the throttle body gasket is the right way around, etc etc

 

Not knowing what your stock paper LIM gasket has seen or been through makes this a gamble with unknown odds (likely poor odds). The LIM gasket sees a lot of abuse due to it's environment (heat, oil, fuel, grime, water, etc) and location. It will likely benefit you to upgrade to a metal LIM gasket for reliability/longevity and ease of future maintenance.

However, that being said, I run a paper gasket at 45psi and have zero issues. It falls apart anytime the LIM is taken off. I don't think the intake manifold pressure is the only dimension to consider.

 

Alright, I'm just going to take care of this now, then. I'm just going to have the mechanic do it (although it does sound like a fun job )