I disagree with you there. I lost 2 felpro hg on my d50 from not retorquing. They will blow. It happens all the freaken time on starions. oldcolt will definitely agree with me on this one. Even an ajusa will blow without retorquing. It says right in the fsm to retorque after warming up. We believe it has to do with the head bolts sitting higher on one side than the other.

aj usa in san diego? what head gasket do they sell?

funny hylomar was mentioned - i felt like, for years, that i was the only one using it with hondas. that stuff in spray form became pretty hard to source eventually since permatex stopped selling it in spray form.

great stuff.

it's ajusa, 2 metal layers with a composite center. I've reused them quite a few times over the years and never had a issue. It's the only gasket I like to use for turbo g54b not making crazy hp.

I could be wrong. I sometimes let certainty get in the way of being right. But not this time. If it's any solace, I used to believe like you do. Til I larned better...

hmm, have a link for it? i went on the aj usa site for OE parts and they didn't have a HG for the montero.

what kind of material is the OE HG? the one from mitsu.

I think the last ones (88-89) may have had a mutli layer steel (MLS) head gasket. I think the ajusa is too, as is the HKS. There's a solid copper off summit. The felpro turbo head gasket is good. Multilayer steel is best on the turbo motors. I like the felpro turbo gasket as a good tough carb motot gasket for the price.

A stock head gasket is fine if it's never overheated, and this includes an open exhaust, as cat blockage will fry a 2.6 carb head over time, and a turbo head faster.

The best mod on a 2.6 is head studs and a 3row radiator and good fan clutch and intact shroud.

thanks!

i've always used multi layer metal HG on hondas, NA or boosted, so i'm familiar.

i was thinking about head studs, just as an added precaution. they make much more sense than bolts IMO. AND to make life easier IF i need to remove the head again. i never re-use head bolts, even if they measure out, but i'm ok with re-using head studs if they measure out.

SO...if i were to get a HG from a given manufacturer, i can simply use Starion stuff, eh? Does it matter what year?

as far as studs, it looks like ARP has it broken down by engine and for the G54B they have P/N 207-4202

i have to figure out what "U/C" studs means...

http://www.enginemachineservice.com/conquest.html

part way down the page. TEP also sells them but they are a bit more spendy. I'm not sure who else sells them right now.

It means "undercut".

FWIW, I tried an OE MLS head gasket set on my first blower engine and it leaked oil because the machine shop did not get a good enough finish on the heads. This leak was evident even before the engine had seen more than 2500 rpms. So, if you're going to use those, you'd better have a machine shop with some very good equipment.

I have found the OE composite head gaskets to be among the best I've ever used.

My present engine has a head shim sealed to the block with spray hylomar, an OE composite gasket, ARP U/C head studs and runs at 6.5psi boost with no issues.

Frank

difficult to get a steel/steel quality head finish with a production shop fly cutter. You get a mild ripple on them. Starion 88-89 spec is the pick of the litter stock wise. I repeat. Never ever overheat it.