Metal Headgasket Seal

[Marphie21]

Hi there! Is it some sort of special technique to use a gasket sealant like Hondabond on a metal head gasket? Got my engine back from a builder and he used Hondabond on my Tomei metal head gasket. He says hes been using this technique since 2017.

Never heard of anyone doing this before, and my first instinct was that this was totally wrong. I tried searching the web for several days and came across *some* high HP builders using a little hondabond on head gaskets as some sort of insurance.

 

Pictured below is my metal head gasket with the grey hondabond coming from the sides.

[BK]

Never used it on the Tomei or Nitto ones we use.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

But why? Nitto, Tomei gaskets have an o-ring that is compressed when the head is bolted down creating a great seal.

[Marphie21]

"To really make sure there are no blow outs"

According to the builder. 

[KiwiRS4T]

If your block is straight and your head is true there will be no blow outs. I reused a Tomei Head gasket (yes the same one)  three times when I was sorting out an issue with my RB30 and it never leaked and so far as I know is still fine years later.

[Marphie21]

But am i at risk of actually having a bad seal if i leave this hondabond in there?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Your engine builder would know the answer to that

[Marphie21]

2 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Your engine builder would know the answer to that

Yup he says it should be all good. He's been doing it on honda engines since 2017. But he's also become a little sketchy. 

[KiwiRS4T]

55 minutes ago, Marphie21 said:

Yup he says it should be all good. He's been doing it on honda engines since 2017. But he's also become a little sketchy. 

That'll teach you for using a Honda engine!

[Ben C34]

4 hours ago, Marphie21 said:

"To really make sure there are no blow outs"

According to the builder. 

A bit of sticky goo won't do a single thing about blow outs. That's retarded.

The best it will manage is sealing up some oil or coolant, not combustion pressure should the head gasket reach its limit

[Marphie21]

6 minutes ago, Ben C34 said:

A bit of sticky goo won't do a single thing about blow outs. That's retarded.

The best it will manage is sealing up some oil or coolant, not combustion pressure should the head gasket reach its limit

Any idea if itll do anything detrimental towards the headgasket's performance?

[Ben C34]

17 minutes ago, Marphie21 said:

Any idea if itll do anything detrimental towards the headgasket's performance?

If it is a sensibly thin even coat I would think it is OK. But it is another thing to go wrong, so I don't do it.

[Marphie21]

2 hours ago, Ben C34 said:

If it is a sensibly thin even coat I would think it is OK. But it is another thing to go wrong, so I don't do it.

If I had known he would do this i wouldve stopped him right away. Gah youre right its something thatll bug me until I actually run the engine. 

Its just that to undo what he did would require upening up the engine again, getting a new head gasket, and possibly taking the block/head to the machine shop again to get it properly smooth. This Hondabond seems to have a reputation of really not coming off easily. If we try to scrape the stuff off with our tools we might scratch the head and block surfaces.

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

just run it as is now that its on.. any rectification work thats needed later bcoz of it would fall squarely on the builder

[Marphie21]

16 minutes ago, R.3.2.G.T.R said:

just run it as is now that its on.. any rectification work thats needed later bcoz of it would fall squarely on the builder

You have a fair point.