A20A3 Head Gasket Don't Buy!

[phrenology]

Has anyone ordered parts from The Parts Bin. Com or partsandaccessories.com? Don't ever buy from these guys! I bought a head gasket last week and they shipped it in two days. The problem is when it got here the box looked like an elephant sat on it lengthwise. The gasket was sandwiched between airbags without any carboard reinforcement. It was bent in 3 spots and creased everywhere. It was packed in DHL shipping box but sent via UPS ground! I bet the UPS guys beat on it! The Parts Bin have about 4 companies under them to call for customer support and none of them answer or help. I don't know which company actually filled the order but they all wanted me to order another one before refunding me and it took 3 phone calls, 4 emails, and 1 online IM customer support just to get it sorted out, and I'm still not sure that I'm gonna get my money back.

Anyway what head gaskets do you suggest for an A20A3. I'm gonna be running NA that should be no higher than than 10:1 ratio with dual webers through an ITB-style intake manifold. I tried to get headstuds made in time for reassembly but PAECO shafted me and I don't have time to deal with machining and heat treating for studs right now. I was gonna run a copper gasket too but my ratio is gonna be lower than expected and PAECO wanted too much money to make one.

The one gasket I ordered from that ass-backward online parts shop was an OEM replacement by Ishino. Anyone have luck with these or is there something better for under $100? I've looked at copper, composite, and even steel reinforced but I just want to get something moderately priced and that offers some better protection against blow outs and leaks. Ideas???

[Busted_Blue]

I bought OEM honda gaskets for my car but then again I'm not trying to push more power out of my motor. It cost me 23bucks with my dealer discount.

[mouchyn]

yeah, the honda head gasket should be fine for your motor. order one from your local honda dealer or from an online honda parts store like

www.hondaautomotiveparts.com
www.torringtonhonda.com

[Vanilla Sky]

unless you plan on beating the piss out of the motor 24/7, i don't see why a stock honda gasket wouldn't work... with as easy as it is to change on these cars, give it a shot, and while it's on, go ahead and find the upgrade gasket you want...

[Lambera]

FYI, its not thepartsbin.com fault. Ive used them for along time now and no problems. Infact most of the orders come from the local dealer.

[AccordEpicenter]

stock honda head gaskets are the only thing id use, if the head and the deck are clean and perfectly FLAT then they are just fine even in high power applications where you thrash it all the time, you might need some head studs though...

[HondaBoy]

i'd say a stock type gasket from Honda is the best way to go anyway. every gasket i've got from them has been a quality part that fits perfect. although i've found them to be a little more expensive, but its worth it IMO. i've become accustom to checking things that are delivered to me before i let the freight company go. we have to do that at work all the time, so its like a habbit now. we used DHL for a few months, but not anymore due to a lot of broken things ordered. maybe a coincidence? lol.

[phrenology]

Ah thanks for the support guys. After tearing mt hair out, which is now blue this week...I finally got confirmation that Parts Bin is shipping a replacement. I'll try the Ishino if this one's good (sigh) along with this blue Halomar (super marine goo from UK which is about the colour of my hair right now) for sealant. If I experience problems I'll keep an OEM Honda gasket on hand. One things for sure the Ishino looks alot tougher than that POS Rock auto parts gasket I've got laying around.

[AccordEpicenter]

hope it works for ya. I like to stick to honda parts for critical things, like engine seals and gaskets... yeah it is more $$ but ive yet to do a job 2x over them.

[AZmike]

For what it's worth I used a Rock head gasket set to do a rebuild and had zero problems.