legacycentral bbs

Hi. ya'll. Say, I'm puttin' my 2.2 engine back together to swap it into my 88 GL 10 turbo wagon. I did a little port n polish job, and smoothed the mating faces up with 250 wet or dry on a heavy marble slab. I'm ready to install 'em, and find that some of the cooling ports don't line up or aren't there at all. I called the Federal Mogal hot line, and Hank says that they were moved or eliminated intentionally, for better cooling. The Fel-pro gasket set box lists all the makers of each part individually, ( from all over the world) and the head gaskets are made in Japan. Hank looked 'em up and says their OEM. Their the three layer MLS type, and I've heard them bragged up from various sources, as really good gaskets. I'm just concerned about the relocated and missing coolant ports. Opinions? Thanks, Steve.

If you are worried about it, just go with the dealership. They are graphite gaskets, line up perfectly, and don't fail.

If the mating surfaces of your block and aren't polished to accept metal face gasket, that alone can cause them to fail, whereas graphite ones accept less than perfect surfaces.

OEM is what I am using on my DD and big power build! OEM one is original on my DD with almost 300K on it and running 300whp for past 2-3 years and still holding.

I have heard from some old skoolers that they used to reuse their OEM 22t HG with no ill effects. Kind of speaks volumes about that particular HG style.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=1950330

I bought a cheap ebay headgasket kit once, that will not happen again..

Personally, i go with OEM now, for peace of mind =)

I'll echo what others have mentioned and suggest going with the OEM Subaru gaskets. Subaru gaskets are not the MLS gaskets, as mentioned they are graphite based.

When I built my motor I did look into the MLS gaskets, and it was really hit or miss and I decided to stay with the Subaru gaskets with head studs.