Stock Honda head gasket or Aftermarket head gasket?
 

Hello all,
Today I am going to start to take apart the girlfriends 2005 Honda civic EX 1.7L sedan. It has 110000 miles on it and I found the head gasket leaking near cyclinder #2. I understand that the stock head gaskets have had issues fin these cars. I also read that Honda used a grafite material for the Acura head gaskets to avoid the civic problems.
Anyway, can anyone recommend what head gasket to use? The honda one? autozone? aftermarket? We plan on running this car for many more miles so I'm leaning on the stock one only because its gone 110000 so far and the leak is very minimal so no damage to the motor etc.

Also instead of putting all that california air intake crap back on I was considering a cold or ram air intake to clean up the area and get a little performance... Any suggestions? If I do remove the stock stuff will I get a code?

Thanks for all your time and responses. :)

For the head gasket, I would suggest either OEM or Cometic.

For the intake, I would personally use a short ram, since the Cold air is subject to hydrolocking the motor. (yes, I do know that he/she would have to drive through a huge puddle of water to screw it up, but it is technically a concern regarding a CAI).

Also, you mentioned California, is that where your girlfriend lives? If so, as you may know CA emissions testing is a b!tch (to say the least). If this vehicle needs to pass CA emissions, get an AEM intake system (C.A.R.B. legal). If not, then get get an intake through eBay, throw out the filter they give you, and buy an AEM dryflow or a K&N filter. You shouldn't throw any CELs if you install an intake.

^^That. Use an OEM one. Theyre really not all that expensive and to be honest, oem quality is in fact better than say the, advance auto, ones. Also, if you buy an intake specifically for the car, and hook it up the same way you took the old one off, CELs shouldnt be a problem. And just be careful of the CA emissions testing policy

thanks everyone, I got the OEM and I asked if the part number had been superseded or anything. The Honda parts guy said that it showed a number change from the original. So I hope they changed the actual gasket for the better. I'm reusing the same head bolts hope that is ok? They look good and new ones cost $130 for all ten:(. Of course of would pay another 130 if I knew I would be doing this again in a few months:).
So I looked everywhere for the harmonic balancer special tool and I guess I will have to buy one.
I currently have a Nissan Titan that I have modified myself. The AEM is the best filter in my opinion and I might do the eBay thing and go with the filter to save some $. Our Honda really isn’t for performance but man after being under the hood it looks so easy to modify. Headers, intake, intake manifolds, it just seems like you could do a lot with this motor easily.
thanks again!

oh yeah we are in the vegas desert for now so we dont have to get the cali emissions test anymore.

good, then get an ebay intake with good air filter, also oem gasket

slade8, your stock head studs should be fine, but I would recommend a set of ARP head studs. I have been using them for the past 2 years. Great quality, you can torque them, take them out, re-torque them and so forth without having to worry about stretching them (as OEM can do). Here's a link to a set being sold on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ARP-H...item3ca7838975