Just have heard alot of guys on H-T using the Stock OEM Headgasket over any of the aftermarket gaskets either copper or tri-metal.

Im using the cometic now but leaks oil and coolant. I've also heard problems with the copper gaskets also.

When I remove the head again I wanted to see if I should get another cometic or stock OEM gasket.

Wanted to see how much H.P or boost have you guys run on the Stock OEM Gasket?

 

this is one subject that is never one sided. everytime i read headgasket posts its always 50/50. I use stock headgasket and have made over 500whp and have popped them 2 times and my block is o-ringed but the head may be warped cause i had some overheating issues in the beginning. Frank from south florida performance swears by the cometic and he is making over 750whp. I'd like to hear what some of the big dogs have to say ie.. tony1,earl,jason hunt,VS etc.. anyone making over 600whp. our full race car made 667 on stock gasket but we havent run it enough to say it is better than cometic.


[Modified by MotorMatrix.com, 7:11 PM 1/2/2003]

 

I have had two OEM seal perfect. One stock thickness cometic seal perfect, and a 3mm cometic headgasket leak. Now to be fair the thicker headgasket didnt get copper seal on it as the others did. I am sticking with a OEM bored out headgasket from golden eagle for my 2.0 sleeved block.

 

I just got finished putting my motor together, Golden eagle block bored out to 84mm with cometic gasket, sprayed it down with copper spray, torqued arp studs to 82ft lbs, used some bars leak, and it haven't leak yet. Only been 100 miles on the motor so i'm crossing my fingers. Paul

 

Im running a GE block as well. I had a Cometic 83mm gasket on it. It started leaking though. Im gonna have my dad drop my car off at a local shop and try a bored stock one. I spoke with Vince and he recommends the stock bored gasket over the cometic one.

 

put some serious boost to it and let us know how it holds up. mine only blew at 26+psi. I had serious amount of passes before they blew though. it may be just normal after 35+ passes huh??

 

Thanks guys.
I only plan on running at the most of 400hp so i should be good

 

We have had excellent luck with stock gaskets and have't used cometic so i can't really comment on them. Stick with stock, honda has some pretty crafty engineers coming up with this stuff and they hold up amazingly well considering what we're putting them through!

 

My almost 2.0L b18c with the Cometic 84mm gasket has never leaked

 

How many lbs of boost have you put to it?? and for how long have you been running it?

 

so tony, you are telling me you guys are making over 900hp on stock gasket?? would you mind telling me if you have o-ringed the head or block?? or any tips on keeping it sealed. i mean im sure you guys have blown headgaskets more then you would like to talk about but is it normal to blow them at 28psi?? let me rephrase this. my car is making over 550hp and I run it every week and sometimes twice a week several passes. like 8 or more passes. is it normal for it to blow after 1-2 months?? thanks for anything you can contribute.

 

Honestly, I have never really had head gasket problems in the past. We run a stock gasket bored out and run copper orings with arp studs. There really is no trick to it. If you are having gasket problems and everything is okay on the engine side of things then maybe you need to look into your tuning. Tuning can play a major part in head gasket failures.

 

I may have asked you this in the past but I have steel o-rings in my block now. would you recommend going back to copper o-ring with the stock gasket?? it just seemed like when i pulled the motor apart to feshen it up the last time the copper ones got so sumshed down and i thought they werent biting the head very well. of course i use arp studs also. thanks

 

stick with the stock head gasket. I ran the cometic with a step deck and it started leaking at around 25 psi with a really safe a/f and timing curve. at 33psi it blew the upper radiator hose off. I stuck a stock head gasket and have had zero coolant in my over flow after each pass. when I bought the gasket I was under the impression that it was full stainless steel. but when I looked at it closer I noticed that the center section was sheet metal. not a material that can handle a lot of heat expansion. also the cometic replacement was about .005-.007 thicker then stock. you can't go wrong with a stock headgasket IMO.

 

Tony,
What do you mean by the copper o-rings. Are they copper on the OEM gasket or do you need to get the aftermarket o-rings and put them into the stock OEM gasket.
Where can I get these o-rings if they do not come stock on the OEM gasket?
Are these o-ring nessary on 500WHP or only higher HP like you guys are running, and aren't you running meth thats alot cooler does that affect the head gasket at all?

 

tony -- the arp's are 1/2" tho, right?

motor matrix -- if you use a copper headgasket you can use a steel oring and if you use a stock head gasket you must use a copper o ring. This is becuase the stock head gasket is steel, so you alwyas must use a combo of steel and copper. The best bet is to stick with a stock HG and the copper o rings. I personally use a cometic for the first time right now and really like it, no problems thus far.

 

No, 1/2" is what everyone upgrades to. I think they are 11mm....

Any Geoff's right on the orings. Steel gasket - copper orings and vise versa...

 

Where do you get the o-ring and where do they go in the stock headgasket?

How do you install and what is there purpose?

Why do they need to be two different metals?

What do you mean by 11mm ARP's are you talking about the head on the nut being 11mm I think its a 12 point socket also on mine?

I'm running the ARP studs also, What lube do you use and what torque with that lube?


[Modified by crxhybrid1320, 8:36 PM 1/5/2003]