There is nothing wrong with using the Power Enterprise gasket and A1 or ARP L19 head studs. This is a good combination, assuming you have the block honed with a deck plate with the new studs.

The real question is, what's the difference between the EVO IX and EVO 8 gasket? I know the Power Enterprise gasket is made for the EVO 8 head, so there may be compatibility issues with a MIVEC EVO 9 head. This is why I chose to o-ring the block with a bored out EVO IX gasket. Other wise, it's cheaper/easier to use an off-the-shelf gasket and good head studs. I now have a few gaskets laying around and will investigate...

 

im curious why that is...my block is oringed...never a single problem with it......

 

Wether the car is daily driven or not has no effect on wether or not you want to o-ring your block. Both means of sealing the chambers have merit, there is just more work and time that has to go into o-ringing a block and you also have to be extremely precise. Another drawback, as TedB stated before, is that if a problem didn't exist with leaking of coolant or oil, if you o-ring things incorrectly then you can create a problem. It is just an extra step that in most cases isn't necessary. Most of the high hp/tq shop cars that drag and/or autocross on here don't o-ring just because it isn't absolutely necessary. You can get a head gasket bored out to the correct size, make sure the head and block are good and flat, get some good high strength head studs on there and torque it down. It will hold, provided you put the motor through unbelievable punishment, and even then chances are you will break something before you lift the head.

 

I beleive the oem gaskets for the 2.4 sohc are .20 bigger than the factory bore, I remember it was slightly bigger than the actually bore. An it was only 40-50 bucks.

 

im bringing this thread back to life because im hitting a wall right now..i have a br 2.1 and a br stage 3 evo9 head o-ringed.. i had issues with the stainless o-ringes so i had a machine shop put copper ones and at the same time i didnt feel like waiting for another oem modified head gasket so i bought a cometic..well im running l19s torqued to 110... my car made really good power around 966 at 40psi... but i started to push coolant nothings mixing just building pressure and sending coolant into the over flow...
so i plan on taking the head off and buying a oem modified headgasket but im not sure if i should re oring the head or get it welded and decked...


thanks...

 

personally i would tell you to ditch the cosmetic HG and get a AMS custom HG for your setup

 

750whp 87mm 4G64 here... I blew my PE HG. I am now on a Cometic HG, and I am not o-ringed. I have thought about o-rings but I'm trying not to o-ring unless I 100% have to. I think the key to keeping the gasket happy is keeping peak * around 0. The lower the better to keep cylinder pressure low at peak tq.

Mikey

 

Power Enterprise HG for 86.5-87mm bore

 

I have compared the 8, 9, and PE gasket side to side on top of one another and everything. The only real difference between the 8 and 9 gaskets is the 9 has slightly larger coolant passage holes. The PE even advertises having larger, more efficient passages in its design. The box my PE gasket came in was even noted as Evo VIII/IX actually.

Hope this helps someone out there

 

the IX gasket is thicker and seals better, especially with o-rings from what i was told by a reputable engine builder. going with a modded IX gasket on my VIII, its a direct swap.