can u use a stock head gasket with the block O ringed or the head

and is it good to get it done or not

 

You can use an o-ring with a stock head gasket. Most Honda o-rings are installed in the aftermarket block sleaves rather than the head. Stronger fit in steel than aluminum

 

they can be put in the head though. thats where mine are.

 

How are they holding up? I've never tried them in the head. Are they easy to replace?

 

are u using a stock gasket

 

^

 

How much does this cost?

I'm looking to do this to my Built ZC.

 

The machine shop that is doing mine is charging me $95.

Sonny

 

Cool. Thank's Sonny.

Still waiting for my Block to arrive.

 

Only copper headgaskets should be used with o-rings. Without it the rings can "blow out" causing massive leaking. The copper gasket provides a crushable medium where the o-ring can dig itself into.

 

does anyone have a pic of what the oring looks like?

 

Forgive me if I'm missing something here since I've never personally o-ringed an engine before. Wouldn't having the o-ring on the head make installing the wire difficult since It would want to fall out when you flip the head upside down to install it.

 

The ring is pressed in, so it wont fall out.

When using a steel ring, you need to put a reciever groove in the opposite
surface and you must use a copper gasket.

with a copper ring, its possible to use a stock gasket, but whenever i do that
I will mill the o-ring down to about .002" above the deck rather than leave
it at full height.

 

Here is a couple of pix of Benson sleaved, o-ring'd race block I am just finishing. Sorry about the quality of the pix




[Modified by earl, 5:13 PM 7/1/2002]

 

BTW, these o-rings work with regular headgaskets. Does not have to be copper. I have never tried a copper gasket yet.

 

Hi Earl:

What size wire is that? The machinist doing mine has several to choose from and he said that he thought that using the thinnest wire would be the best because it would allow the o-ring to stay entirely within the steel portion of the sleeve.


Thanks,
Sonny

 

I never have understood o-ringing blocks... why not just cement the head to the block then? You'd think that if there was enough pressure to lift the head, that you'd want the gasket to blow rather than destroy your pistons. Is it just to save a $50 head gasket?

 

i had a receiver groove cut into the head and then had a stainless wire inserted and cemented into the groove.i use a copper head gasket. the head can be removed and the copper head gasket reused. it cost me about 135 dollars not including the gasket. there did not look to be enough room in a h23 block to put the receiver groove there.

 

Hi Sonny..The ring is right at .075" thick. Placement of the ring is critical. If it is too far out, it weakens the top of the sleave and can blow out easier. The one thing I like about GE is how they can raise the sleaves .002 over the deck for a built in giant o-ring.
BTW, in boring a Benson sleave as compared to a GE sleave, the metal seems softer on the GE. I'm not sure if this is by design or not and have no idea which metal compound is better. I'm just making an observation.

 

Dustin, I don't think it's about lifting the head but trying to stop the head gasket from pushing out. I had to pull an o-ring'd head with a custom Cometic gasket and no replacement. It re-sealed so great that it was good for about another 30 passes. Now if I can just get some more sand for the cement...

 

where u get copper head gasket for a h23

 

I don't recommend o-ring the block, there are much better ways to seal the head gasket. If you sleeve the block, guys like RS machine in Torrance, can do some trick stuff to the sleeve so that it seals better. O-ringing is old school, positive deck height on the sleeves is the bomb ****, but there are only few machine shops that can do it. By the way it doesn't cost more to do it when sleeving your block. Also use a stock gasket or even the cometic gaskets work pretty well. Copper is crap, that is old school ****, if it was that great, Hondas would have come stock with it. Think of the gasket price, the Honda gastets cost crazy money compared to factory honda, the multi layer steel. Think of how much money Honda would save it they replaced every honda they made with a cheaper copper one.

 

What exactly does RS do to their sleaves (other than raising them) to make them work better?
I agree o-rings are old school but has anyone actually been able to compare head gasket life between o-rings and raised sleaves? I'm not questioning what you are saying, just am curious.
BTW, they still use o-rings on top fuel cars and they make as much hp in one cyl as we can in 4.

 

it has an h22 head, sce makes a gasket

 

Some times people try to get too innovative and stuff doesnt work as in thoery. I guess people just have to go out and try to see what works for them. I know what works for us....Mike