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Got a leaking exhaust gasket on my RB26DETT. What I am wondering is, is it worth the extra money to buy "better" gaskets?

Should I buy the standard/stock ones http://www.justjap.com/store/product.php?productid=18505&cat=&page=1

or spend the extra on something like these? http://www.justjap.com/store/product.php?productid=17770&cat=&page=1

Engine has a fair few mods and once this exhaust leak is fixed, it will be getting thrown on a dyno to see what she's got! Also will be doing track days with this car too.

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They might have lasted 15 years on a stocker, but he said it's modified, which generally means a turbo change.

So how long did they last after the turbos were changed?

Just like Nissan on the sr20 changed to a multilayer gasket on the later models, there was probably a reason for that don't you think?

If I recall, the genuine Nissan ex. gasket is made from graphite. Graphite is supposed to have a insanely high melting point, though you would be hard pressed to get a steel exhaust gasket to melting point.

  • 1 month later...

the oem gaskets are good but for exhaust manifold gaskets I would go tomei. being a multi-layer steel gasket they work very well and are re-usable too. as mentioned above SR20 gaskets were the same graphite type composite gasket until nissan changed to MLS gaskets for the S15.

yeah good point. the tomei onse last a long time and can come on and off many times (you do need to make sure the head and the manifold surfaces are pretty flat though). the graphite nissan gaskets use their crush to seal nicely so once they are on, that's it. plus they tend to fall to bits when removed anyway. they cannot be reused.

  • 5 years later...

hey sorry to bring up an old thread, im currently building an rb26 to swap into my r34 25gt and im a bit of a noob. im wondering what gaskets to use. If i use cheaper ones are they likely to fail? like is it necessary to use metal ones opposed to like graphite ones? any help is appreciated thanks.

Graphite OEM are fine, however you will need to replace them if you ever take off your manifold(s) or you can pay a little more an get a multi layer steel gasket which you can re-use.

I would personally not use a cheap shitty gasket in that location as it's a pain in the ass to change if it gives out, so either Nissan OEM, or a known performance brand such as Tomei as listed in the posts above.

Both will seal fine if assembled properly, neither will "seal more" or "leak less" it's a matter of personal preference really.

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