Head Gaskets

[Aaron]

Head gaskets? Subaru or Fel pro?
Which are better?

[Airgne]

neither. cometic gasket.

[95USsubaru]

how much would it cost and is it a PITA to fix?

[Airgne]

how much would it cost and is it a PITA to fix?

its not that bad if you have a shop to do it yourself, but if you dont look at 1100-1600bucks.

[ouch1011]

Supposedly the FelPro gaskets are reboxed Subaru gaskets. I've used both, they look the same.

I've also used Cometic gaskets on other engines. They are good gaskets, but unless you can get them quite a bit cheaper than OE gaskets, I wouldn't use them over the OE gaskets.

[Airgne]

Supposedly the FelPro gaskets are reboxed Subaru gaskets. I've used both, they look the same.

I've also used Cometic gaskets on other engines. They are good gaskets, but unless you can get them quite a bit cheaper than OE gaskets, I wouldn't use them over the OE gaskets.

and this is why ppl get headgasket leaks. the oe gaskets are not that strong. they say they have fixed the problem, but i beleive they have not.

[ouch1011]

I don't see where the design of the Subaru gasket is different from the Cometic. They are both multi-layer stainless steel. Both have elastimer coatings on them. The open deck design of the block just kind of sucks for making a solid seal. The MLS gasket makes it less likely to fail, but because of the poor block design, it will still eventually fail again.

[98redlgt]

I used Subaru gaskets for my rebuild and haven't had any problems, only have about 4,000 miles put on them so far, but no probs yet!

[j_saffron]

Subaru Gaskets here, no problems over 30,000 miles later.
paid a shop $1300, including having the heads machined.

[New GT]

Are there any special preparations that need to be done to the heads or block to install the cometic gaskets?

[Huffer]

Subaru OE gaskets are fine. The issue isn't with the new design, it's with the heads or block surface. Both must be completely flat and free of any leftover gasket material.