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Copper Head Gaskets
Pontiac V8 Copper Head Gaskets
Dead Soft Copper — Copper Head Gaskets for Pontiac V8s
Copper head gaskets are a specialist part, and Butler is straightforward about it: copper is recommended for very specific drag race applications only. A solid copper gasket does not seal on its own — the Pro versions are used with o-rings and sealant in the block or head.
Butler stocks SCE Pro Copper and SCE Titan dead soft copper gaskets for Pontiac in bores from 4.200" through 4.380" and thicknesses from .032" to .093", with or without water holes, plus custom Butler Performance copper gaskets in any bore size.
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More About Copper Head Gaskets
1. Know what you are buying into
Copper is not an upgrade path for a street engine. It is a specific tool for a specific job.
| Butler's own position | copper gaskets are recommended for very specific drag race applications only. For a pump gas street Pontiac, a composite gasket or a Cometic MLS gasket is the better part. |
| Pro Copper needs o-rings | the SCE Pro copper gaskets are used with o-rings and sealant. That means machine work in the block or the head before the gasket is any use to you — plan for it. |
| Titan is the sealed version | the SCE Titan gaskets are dead soft copper with built-in coolant seals and combustion seals, silicone sealed around the coolant passages, so they do not require o-rings in the block or head. Butler also stocks a Titan variant with fluid seals around the water holes. |
| Reusable, within reason | copper survives teardown better than composite, which is part of why racers use it. |
2. Sizing: bore first, then thickness
Copper is ordered by two numbers, and the first one has a rule attached.
| Gasket bore runs about .010" over cylinder bore | that is the sizing rule in Butler's own product data. Match the bore and the thickness to your application. |
| Stocked bores | Butler carries 4.200", 4.250", 4.280", 4.300", 4.320" and 4.380" — covering stock-bore 326-455 engines through big-bore aftermarket blocks. |
| Stocked thicknesses | from .032" through .093" depending on bore, with .043", .050", .062" and .080" the most common steps. |
| Custom | Butler Performance custom copper gaskets are made from dead soft copper in thicknesses from .030" to .090", with or without water holes, in any bore size. If nothing on the shelf matches the combination, that is the route. |
3. Water holes, or no water holes
Most of the copper part numbers exist in both versions, and the choice follows the cooling strategy of the engine.
| With water holes | the gasket passes coolant between block and head the way a conventional gasket does. This is the version for an engine that still circulates coolant through the heads. |
| No water holes | for block-filled and restricted-coolant race engines that route or limit coolant differently. Ordering no-water-hole gaskets for an engine that needs coolant through the heads is a very expensive mistake. |
| Matched pairs | most sets are sold as a pair, but Butler also lists several sizes individually — check whether you are buying one or two before you check out. |
4. Making copper seal
Copper is the least forgiving head gasket material in the catalog and rewards preparation.
| Surface finish | both the deck and the head need to be flat and properly finished. Copper does not conform the way a composite gasket does. |
| O-ring or receiver groove | with Pro Copper, the o-ring wire does the combustion sealing and the copper does the rest. Get the wire height and groove depth right or nothing else matters. |
| Sealant | Pro Copper gaskets are used with sealant; Titan gaskets carry their sealing built in. Follow the maker's instruction for whichever you buy. |
| Head bolt or stud torque | copper transmits clamp load differently than composite. Use fasteners you trust and the torque sequence for your hardware. |
If you are building a drag-only Pontiac at high cylinder pressure and you already have o-ring capability, copper is a proven answer and Butler stocks it in more sizes than anybody. For anything that drives on the street, ask about Cometic MLS instead — you will be happier and so will the cooling system.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Email our tech team at tech@butlerperformance.com. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.