need spme advise with head gasket and studs

[boostdog]

i am about to put a new head on my 91 gsx. i am thinking about going with a cometic h/g and arp head studs. is it worth getting the gasket and studs. i am planning on porting and polishing the head while i am at it. future plans are for a 16g will this really benefit me? thanks!

[EclipseRST]

yes both are a must when changing or taking off and putting back on a head... your stock studs tend to stretch when heated up so its a good thing to replace them! and your head gasket will pretty much be trash as soon as to separate the head from the block! so its important to replace both, scrape the head and the block clean and make sure you dont get any of the scrap material in the cylinders or any of the oil and water holes! if you get some in the cylinders make sure you clean it out! good luck on it!

[boostdog]

i know i must replace the gaskets, that's a given, but the ? that i had was will the copper h/g really give me an advantage over a stock gasket?

[EclipseRST]

ok i thought you ment did you have to replace them... my bad, but as far as the copper from stock i really dont know if there is an advatage or not! and for porting the head and using a 16g, yea it will help give you some extra power... the next thing you should do when it comes to porting is port both manifolds (intake and exhaust) and that should give you some really nice flow! just as long as you have the supporting mods to be able to produce that power!

[kjewer1]

Definteilydo the studs. But for the gasket for a 16g, I dont know if I would go with cometic. They require a specific finish on the head, and work best when the block was just machined as well. I would go with a stocker (60 bucks) or a mitsu metal gasket (90). I have had very good results with the mitsu metal gasket. I even resused it and no no trouble at 400 whp. The studs have to be installed a certain way, I could cut and paste some things I have written in the past if I get some time later.