the rook

I'm going to be putting a turbo on my car and I intend to put ARP head studs and a metal head gasket in advance. Anyone have any recommendations for what head gasket brand to use? There's a cometic head gasket/arp head stud combo on ebay. There's also a metal head gasket by nippon. Just curious what you guys think. Thanks.

the rook

I also meant to ask if there is a specific brand or type of valve cover gasket that I should use in order to turbo the car. I'm buying a nicer cover for dress up purposes and it comes with seals and gaskets. I would assume they're standard oem

Schister66

OEM or Cometic - they're both tri-metal gaskets

Complete top end gasket kit from Summit

the rook

Cool. Next question. The stock bore on my d16y8 is 75 millimeters I have had a full bottom up rebuild but it was not bored any extra as far as I know. It was just polished up. I am seeing for my car in a cometic head gasket with a 3 millimeter width, a 75.5 millimeter bore size. Will this work? I also saw some with two-and-a-half millimeter wits and 65.5 millimeter bore size.

B20VtecVillain

You need the correct bore size gasket for your application. Talk to the machine shop that did the engine work and find out the exact bore size. Also, thickness of the gasket will change compression ratio, so choose according to your engines needs, not what random people on the internet tell you.

the rook

Thanks.

the rook

If I want to run 8-10lbs of boost do I need to lower compression a little by going with a slightly thicker gasket?

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

<p>No. &nbsp;No no no. &nbsp;No, you do not need to lower your compression ratio. &nbsp;Anyone who tells you otherwise is stuck in the 90's.</p>

the rook

Just spoke with the guy I bought the car from. He said the machine shop bored over 20 when they polished it up. I honestly don't know what size gasket to get :-\

Schister66

Well, if you use The Googles, it will tell you...

75mm + 0.020" gives us 75.5mm aka the only usable overbore on a D series....there are only 2 sizes 75mm and 75.5mm.

There's no point to lowering compression. That's an old mindset. The rods will bend at 240+whp anyway, so keep your goals under that if you want the bottom end to stay together.

B20VtecVillain

Stock internals should definitely be kept at 250ish HP or below to be reliable. As with anything else, the tune is what will be the most important factor. Don't run a basemap or stock ecu map, GET IT TUNED! And it will live a long healthy life. Also obviously use the proper fuel and maintenance schedule for your application as well. Compression is nowhere near as big a deal as people used to believe with modern knowledge. I run 13-14psi on a ~12.3:1 compression B series with no issues. All in the tune.

Also, as for their only being two bore sizes, while 75 and 75.5 are the most common, they are definitely not the ONLY available bore sizes that will work well with boost. I have assembled a 76mm D for a customer that has been alive for over 15,000 street miles thus far around 300whp on stock sleeves with no issues.

the rook

I had planned on purchasing a tunable p28 from phearable.net when I turbo the car. I got my chipped obd1 from them. Technical support at comitic.com said that I should go with a 76 millimeter gasket on a 20 over d16y8. However I am keeping in mind that they are not Honda specific tuners so therefore I am on the forum trying to gain some insight. The size that they offer in what's below 3 millimeters is .27 millimeters which i think is the stock head gasket size for my motor.

Schister66

Yeah, i suppose 76mm does exist, but i wasn't aware anyone used that size with boosted setups. Just like you can build an 82mm GSR/B16/LS but i wouldnt trust the stock sleeves with boost (assuming 350whp+). I guess if you're only shooting for 300whp, it'd probably work

the rook

Well I'm not out to do things differently just for the sake of it. Lol. If 75.5 on a bore is the most common practice then I feel like that'd be what I try first.

B20VtecVillain

Why do you want an aftermarket head gasket anyway? I would think a stock y8 gasket would be fine, and you can also remove a layer of you want it thinner being they are MLS (multi-layer steel).

the rook

I am going to put 8-10lbs of boost. I thought better safe than sorry. Gonna put ARP head studs as well. I'll do the work myself so it didn't seem like too much money to spend for the reassurance.

the rook

It's my daily and I can't afford to blow it up. Lol

B20VtecVillain

An aftermarket head gasket is not going to keep your engine from blowing up if it's boosted lol. Again, the key is a proper tune. An OEM head gasket will seal just fine, the ARP studs are a good idea and would definitely recommend, but the only think a Cometic gasket offers over a Honda is a heavier price tag in my opinion.

the rook

So if I replace the head studs then I won't be able to use a factory gasket with a 20 over bore will i? I'll have to replace it with a 75.5mm right?

B20VtecVillain

OEM y8 head gasket is fine with 75.5mm bore and head studs. The actual bore on a stock gasket is something like 75.6mm. I personally run Golden Eagle studs, and a Golden Eagle prepped Honda head gasket on my B20v making ~450HP. Honda head gaskets are great.

Schister66

By the way, setting a goal of "only 8-10psi" is completely arbitrary. Set goals in terms of power (whp/hp) because boost pressure means nothing. I dont want to get into this whole debate for the 10,000th time, you'll just have to trust me.

Like we said, keep it under ~240whp and it should stay in one piece

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

<p>There's an easy way to avoid the debate, Schister. &nbsp;10 PSI from a GT06 is a stiff breeze. &nbsp;10 PSI from a CAT C16 will turn a stock Honda block into slag </p><p>There's nothing wrong with the OEM MLS head gasket, just make sure you actually buy one from Honda, and not something cheaper that's &quot;OEM equivalent&quot;. &nbsp;That being said, though, I personally went with Cometic for my build, primarily for simplicity. &nbsp;I was doing a complete rebuild, and they have a top end and bottom end kit that, together, have everything you need. &nbsp;Beats having to go through half a dozen parts diagrams to find every part you need, and hoping you didn't miss one.</p>

the rook

Golden eagle sells the oem honda gasket and can match any bore specification. It's $50 cheaper than the cometic. As far as turbo and tune goes, I've based it off the go Auto website. I'm looking in to a t3 turbo though and I'm putting the pics together myself. It is far less expensive, as I was informed recently. Hopefully all of this insight leads to a quality end result :-)

underrated

iTrader: (3)

Just get an oem Honda head gasket. It's already 76mm, cheaper, and OEM. Make sure to torque your raps correctly and use lots of the provided lube.