umby

Hey. I'm new to the forums here. I just picked up a 93 hatch from a co-worker and it has a blown headgasket. The issues that casued it to blow have been figured out and fixed. The car has been very well taken care of and I have records of every oil change, repair, rotation... Even every fill up lol. My question is should I simply replace the head gasket the right way (machine the head, OEM bolts and gasket, etc...) or just throw in a nice ZC swap I found? Price wise they break out about the same... My concern is simply that everything I have read on the subject has a lot of people saying that once the head gasket blows the car is never quite right again. I would rather simply replace the gasket and roll but I don't want to spend the money and have more trouble down the line. Any imformation you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Vindicator9000

IDK it depends. I've personally seen someone just slap a new HG on a D15 with no machine work whatsoever and had it run perfectly with no problems at all.

I've also heard of people have nightmare problems with them.

I think that a big factor is whether or not the car was overheated, and how bad. Overheating warps aluminum in ways that are often hard to tell, and it will continue leaking on a replacement HG because the head and block surfaces no longer mate perfectly.

Personally, I'd probably try swapping the HG first depending on what I was planning on doing with the car.

umby

From what I've heard the car never actually overheated. It was getting warm so she took it to her mechanic who diagnosed it as a bad radiator. From what it looked like he left an air bubble in the system that eventually compromised the gasket....

supra-n-civic

9/10 you can simply get the head resurfaced for about 30 bucks. and the head gasket isnt to bad either. id do the head gasket if you just want a driver. do not invest in a zc or any other single cam. you will never be happy if you are lookign for power.

umby

The ZC wouldn't be for power... Its just a good deal. To do the head gasket right is a little pricey so money wise it would be about the same. I'm just wanting to get the most reliable set up possible at the most reasonable cost.

newtron63h

would you be doing the work, minus any macining? if so then the gasket is the way to go. to do it right the deck of the block AND the head need to be checked. if everything checks out there(which it should cuz it doesnt sound like it overheated) you have no problems. head gasket is my vote........its just too easy to replace to not give it a try. again, thats if you are doing the work yourself.......if not.......idk what to tell you.

umby

Yep. I do all my own work. Turning wrencehs is nothing new to me but I'm used to big iron american engines. I picked rthis car up to use as my dd since my Mustang is killing me is gas lol.

Deetz

Head gaskets just go on old cars after a while, it's pretty normal. Rip the head off, get it hot tanked and resurfaced, throw a new HG in and your set. I have saved a few cars this way.

umby

Sounds like the head is the better option. Have any of you ever used Fel-Pro gaskets or should I just go OEM? Also, are the head bolts reusable... I know they're hardened and not tty but I wasn't sure if they could go 2 rounds or if I need to swap them out.

Meoshe

iTrader: (3)

The head bolts are torque to yield, just buy a set from honda or do arp head studs. I would go with OEM head gasket, they aren't a lot of money. I got mine for 35 at my local honda dealership.

Jimster480

what are you talking about? for the price of the cheapest dual cam motor you could boost the single cam and make more power than than any of the dual cam motors. And for the price of a more expencive dual cam, you could build and boost the single cam, making more power than a stock dual cam ever could.

newtron63h

ahhh jimster, havent seen you in a few days. still pushing the single cams i see. i agree completely......it just amuses me how opposite you are to most honda ppl. i hate the "B, H, F, or K........or go home" mentality. but you have to admit that building a N/A D series isnt as cost effective for the power as a B. which i dont much like boosting and i love N/A.

Jimster480

yea obviously lol. NA D series = money pit. For all motor B20V/LSV or K Series. Unless you want to do it real big with a monster SOHC J series :D