So Im going to be starting my built motor project here soon, And Ive noticed something. It appears alot of the built motor guys are using an OEM head gasket, not the Cometic? Im just curious about this, is there an issue with the cometic on our block? I remember back in the day some Honda folks had issues with cometic gaskets leaking water and/or oil from the sides of the block. Just curious as to why Ive seen alot of the built motor guys go with an OEM HG.

 

I am willing to bet those honda guys also had ARP head studs and only torqued them down to Honda specs and not the ARP torque specs.

 

That could def be the case, also torquing with different assembly lubes will cause the actual torque on the stud to vary. I just remember seeing it on the Honda-tech forums a year or two ago and wondered why I had seen people on here using OEM headgaskets on builds when the price diff between the cometic and OEM is very marginal

 

honestly, i dont think it was available when i got my motor built. thats how long ago it was.

 

same thing

 

i used cometic when i had my motor rebuilt

 

i have cometic.

 

i have stock oh wait lol...

 

i have cometic on standby.. im interested to hear any issues with it though

 

Stock head gasket goes somewhere around 30-32 psi. No problems before that boost level though. However, now switching to cometic.

 

From my exp...I have ALWAYS used a stock type head gasket. Higher block pressure and that will more than likely be the first thing that blows out. Id rather have some coolant to swap and a head gasket...then worry about the hole in something else

 

I always use oem When there MLS

 

OEM head gasket is fine for any boost you can throw at the 2az but the studs are the issue....I believe past 16PSI the studs start to weaken.