copper spraying head gasket?

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99sidude

99sidude

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I am soon going to be reassembling my gsr motor destined to see 10 psi of boost. I have a felpro metal HG and ARP head studs. The owner of a local shop that specializes in Nissans told me to lightly coat the gasket with copper spray gasket maker because it helps create a better seal.

Have any of you in the Honda world seen this done?

Results?
 
Blanco said:
I tried that once. Had to change the head gasket again. Maybe I did it wrong, though. I think that FelPro gaskets already come with some amount of sticky on them. Maybe that's Toyota though. I use either OEM Honda or Victor Reinz gaskets.
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You're right... I read the package more carefully and the Felpro does have a thin, sticky rubber coating to help it seal. I'm gonna go without the copper spray. Thanks!
 
i would use the copper spray.

i've done a number of headgaskets, from metal ones, to fiber ones and etc. even on the fiber ones ive used the copper spray. my first MLS gasket i did not. guess what - i had seepage.

so i just torqued the head studs down a little more ;) but then again this was on my mirage and my head studs are ginormous compared to the tiny honda/nissan ones. i think im about 15lb-ft more than i should be but no problems since.

i dont recommend torquing them down more than they need to go. use the spray.
 
The felpro gakset comes with some sort of tacky sealing material already on it. Would you use the spray on a metal HG that already comes with a tacky sealant on it, or just on a gasket that is plain metal.

I like the idea of added insurance of the copper spray, I just want to make sure that it is nececary/beneficial on a metal HG that already has a rubbery coating.
 
i would use it anyways but that is just my opinion.
 
Blanco said:
I would just use a higher quality head gasket. ;)
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Yeah, that is something I should have posted, I have over 50 engine builds and I either use OEM, Fel-Pro, or the gasket supplied by golden eagle (who I get my blocks sleeved by) all of which have the thin coating, I ahve never had any problems unless it was something else I did in my early days, such as not checking warpage or straightness, but that was then, either way, I have done turbo, NA and supercharged setups with OEM gaskets and never had any problems, My pride and joy engine (in my old roommates civic) runs 36lbs on a b16 with an OEM gasket and has over 100 passes on it and there is NO PROBLEMS.
Either way, I guess it would be preference, I always thought that the MLS gaskets were designed ot go on dry because they have that thin coating already on them so I never used any sealent.
 
it's a very thin black layer, it's like rubbery, you see it better when you take the engine apart rather than when you put it together.
Either way, I have never used sealant on them and haven't had any problems, like I said, I guess it's prefrence.
 
Direct quote from the felpro package:

The surface of this gasket has a very thin black layer of a specially developed rubber, which seals head or block surface finish up to 60ra. This rubber coating is slightly tacky by design. It will attract dust.
 
or you could do what the buick gn,gnx,t-type guys do and use a copper compression head gasket. I've seen t-types boosted to 30+ psi with this type of gasket. I'm not sure anyone makes a copper gasket for hondas tho
 
I only use honda oem headgaskets. I have never had a problem with a blown head gasket. If the head and deck surface are straight you wont have a problem. I always use the arp headstuds though. I dont see why you want to use a copper head gasket for 10 lbs of boost, you have nothing to worry about using a factory gasket. I think you will increase your chances of having a problem going with the copper. Make life easy and get the oem one!
 
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