oem headgasket, to use sealer, or not to use sealer?

[Chris859]

After a long wait I am getting back to the re-assembly of my ca18 in the next couple weeks... Just looking for some input - I have my opinions on the matter, and am curious how others feel. Through the years I have seen pics of ca18 builds, some spray their headgasket with the high temp copper spray, others don't. I have always been under the impression that a head gasket needs to be installed dry (aka no added sealers). I will be using an oem det head gasket, arp studs, new oem block, and fresh rebuilt/resurfaced head (daily boost will be 18psi)... So the question remains - to spray or not to spray the head gasket?

[r34 gtr]

Douse it in that copper spray-a-gasket. Stuff pwns.

Hey man, I am really interested to see that Subaru Star with the EJ20TT. Can you post some pictures? 280bhp, awd, and 1400lbs sounds just too awesome to be true! Its an awesome looking car too!

[DALAZ_68]

Douse it in that copper spray-a-gasket. Stuff pwns.

yeah it works wonders...

[Buddyworm]

I've been running a Felpro without any copper spray for several thousand miles now, head was resurfaced. Car gets drift duty every two weeks, no problems thusfar.

[jt15833]

pardon, on a side note, i got arp 202-5402, SR20/VG30 main stud kit. I have heard that someone had problems w/ certain arp hardware with one of nuts on the stud near the water pump not threading down all the way with one washer.

if i tap the block threads and thread the studs all the way does this set have that issue?

[chicos240]

huh?If i understood correctly you want to tap your block where there is an exisiting threaded hole and make more threads on your arp head stud in order to get more of the stud into the block?

If your head is off, you can thread all your arp studs carefully and see where they bottom out. If the one stud near the water pump sits too high in comparison to all of the other studs then you may have stripped threads in that block. If the depth of the stud is less than half an inch I wouldnt worry about it. If it is that bad then take it to a machine shop. They will fix it for you.

[Buddyworm]

if i tap the block threads and thread the studs all the way does this set have that issue?

If you're worried about that problem just double up on the washers over the water pump. Me, I doubled up on all of them.

[meminto]

I cannot remember the exact part number from ARP but becareful because there is an undercut thread size on one of the part numbers and this will not thread into your block, the thread is completely different...

However the issue you are talking about, with the shorter stud depth over the water pump, can be resolved by using two stock head bolt washers then the ARP washer on top (three in total)...

Torque using the ARP specified torque and the correct process from the manual and it will be fine...

One thing I like to do with the studs themselves, is to torque them to 2-3ft/lb, a lot of people will say to nip them up only (finger tight), however the scope is to broad for the definition of "nip"...

[Two-Fortee]

Im in the same boat. All OEM, and wondering weather to respray with copper. Apparently I should, where can I pick this stuff up? Any auto parts store?

[themadscientist]

dry is fine

[Chris859]

Thanks to everyone for the input! And about the suby project, right now It sits in unmolested condition, stock ugly suby faded yellow... there were issues with the engine I got(not to mention with the awd converison, and deciding which susp components to use/modify) - and it is currently on hold untill I get my 240 back together. But otherwise - the suby project will continue after I get some more cash together and the 240 out of the garage