You can lube the oring with Vaseline or I've used a very light coat of oil. As far as heat cycle I dunno but I've had good luck with sealing it and allowing it to set up. In other words don't go firing it up 2hrs after you installed the cup, if at all possible start it the next day this may not be the way for everyone but it works for me. Also as far as finding which cup is gonna be hard to find. Why do you think you have a lifted cup, not to rain on your parade but I hear more of head gasket failures than I do cups lifting unless you're pushing some serious power.