Im finishing up a rebuild. Front cover gasket is from atkins .Missing one hole, so i either wait for a new one or seal it with three bond .I work for subaru and we use no gaskets, all silicone with no issues .Any one with experiencr on this?

 

Sounds like you have a 2nd gen gasket. On most of my builds I use the Mazdacomp metal front cover gasket with a thin layer of silicone on both sides. Atkins carries them. You can use the 2nd gen gasket or an rx8 gasket if you trim it.

 

Yep, I would get the newer metal gasket.

With the metal gasket, you don't need the O-ring between the front cover and the engine. With the paper gasket, you do. With no paper gasket, you will reduce the clearance and the O-ring will get crushed too far.

This is a job you don't want to try and re-do or do in the car. Stop, order the metal gasket, install, and don't worry about it again.

Dale

 

Using rtv instead of a gasket also opens up the air gap on the crank position sensors.

Get the metal gasket!