racing apex seals and the truth?
 

ok i was reading some posts that the hurley racing seals are useless and that the mazda 3pc. is better than a 2pc. seal is this true??? if i was gonna make a 500hp monster i would still use stock 3pc seals?!?!?! what about 3mm seals what about those?!?! any info would be nice :)

Good question. I am not sure what the total consenes was, or if there was one. Opinions are very devided on this issue. Are you going turbo or NA is the first question, I think that matters quite a bit to as what seal would be best for you. Any ways I just use steal on pretty much everything I build. I only do the old rx-4 13B' with the 3mm. and the 12a's which also had 3mm. Therefor I am partial to 3mm.

CJG

i got a 1990 t2 im going to do a half bridge port in about 14months!!! :D heheheheheh some people say that the stock 3 pc. seals are the best no matter what .... i like the 2pc. design but hearing some things like hurting the rotor housing.... i kinda dont want them anymore. i dont feel safe using the stock 3pc and reving to 9k the design seems kinda flawed to me but people have nothing but good experiences with them soooo i most likley go with them

If you have 2mm seals, by all means use the factory stuff because it's the best of all worlds. (Cost, Durability, and Revability)

If you have 3mm seals, you have to weigh what you want out of the engine. Iron seals are best for a daily driver and can handle boost but never take them over 8500, and not over 6200 for extended periods of time. Carbon seals are best for high revving engines but they're nowhere near as strong as the iron seals and so are more likely to break. Hurleys are stronger than carbons and lighter than irons so you can run boost and rev high, but durability is suspect on them. They're pretty cheap too.

Finally there's ceramic seals... bulletproof, lightweight, and nearly $2k for a set.

You see why 2mms are better right? They're strong 'cos they're iron, but they're light enough to handle revs, and they're PROVEN to be durable.

i think im gonna go with the hurleys i just found out that i have a bad coolant seal!!!! noooooooooooooooooooooooooo! how much does a gasket kit cost? my car has 157k miles on it so might as well go in a replace everydamn thing! ugh i just bought this car and im flat broke... i hope it can hold up another 3-5months

Buy a N/A gasket kit
and a bottom intake manifold gasket
if your Turbo Gaskets are good

It's more then half the cost of a TII Gasket Kit

There's a thread about using copper sealent
for temp fix for bad water seals. do a search