Went overkill with my new headgasket install.

- Got the head milled (only needed 3 thous to clean it up)
- Block sanded the deck very lightly with 600grit wet/dry sandpaper
- Brand new OEM headgasket
- Fullblown l19 headstuds
- Installed headstuds with Fullblowns supplied peanut butter
- Hondabond on around the cam cover on both sides of the headgasket
- Blew out all old oil and grime from the headbolt orifices and cleaned with brakeclean
- Cleaned both mating surfaces free of any oil or residue and wore rubber gloves during install and did not touch any mating surfaces.

I think this should be the end of my headgasket woes

If anyone wants my ARP headstuds I'll sell them cheap!

 

I don't think block sanding the desk was a good idea AT ALL. Getting it milled by a machinist might have been a good idea.

All you did if anything was remove material in an uneven manner, hopefully it wasn't enough material to matter.

Peanut butter is a horrible install lubrication choice compared to some of the newer stuff out there that yields better clamp force and most consistent clamping pressure across the entire head.

Probably be just fine anyway but those two things I'd have done a bit different.

 

I just replaced my head gasket last week and used my ARP's one more time with arp ultra tq to 95 ft lbs. If this one goes out then I'm definitely going to use L19s. I have a good feeling about this one

 

Like I said in my post I didn't go crazy on the block. I used a true sanding block so there was nothing uneven about it. I did it enough to remove black stain from the gasket material usually caked to the block. With 600 grit you would have to be sanding quite a bit to screw things up. When most people go crazy with a scotchbrite pad its around 100 grit. I'm not worried about it at all.

And the supplied torque spec from full blown was with the supplied "peanut butter" so shouldnt be an issue!

 

good to hear!!

cannot go wrong with oem gasket and a fresh surface.

now, back up for 50k? jfwy

 

I always sand mine slightly. I wet sand with 400+ grit on a large padded sanding block with light pressure and have had great results. Of course machining is better but most won't want pull the block.

 

Sanding block means nothing unless the block was larger than the entire head so that you were evenly removing material. Removing the gasket material prior should have been done with a sharp scraper. Scotchbrite is a much better option, it's plastic material thus it doesn't actually remove metal really, just the gasket material.

It'll probably hold but I wouldn't suggest messing with that again, if anything it'll cause more problems than it fixes.

I'm aware of what they supply, their peanut butter is INFERIOR! Simple as that. You should use what ARP uses, peanut butter lube is old skool stuff from back in the day, it's not a good choice. Again, it'll probably hold but there was better options. In any case, they spec'd it to you with that lube in mind so all will be well though you can bet the clamping force is not even across all those bolts.

Most importantly I'm going over this so that some moron out there on the internet doesn't read this and think that's what he should do is copy your actions.

-Greg

 

If you're careful to remove nothing but the old gasket material that's fine but, it was already straight when Honda made it and blocks don't warp the way head gaskets do so there's no reason to be sanding it flat. Gasket removing tools should do the job quickly, scotchbrite or some very soft sanding may be reasonable but I hope nobody is thinking they're making the mating surface better by "sanding the block flatter".

 

If you want to assure good bonding and seal of the Head Gasket, always spray your gasket with copper spray, makes quite the difference.
May I ask what Gasket, you where using before, that was giving you bad luck? Also what thickness where you Using before?

 

^ I installed mine and about 10 min. after went "damn it!" as I realized I had forgotten to consider using it.