well i have heard endless things about headgaskets, and i know the old subaru gaskets were semi metalic 1 layer gaskets..

 

i was standing at the parts counter at the local dealer and saw some head gaskets.. so i inquired to what they were for.. a 2.5 engine.. i said neat..

 

but i looked at them closely and they were 5 or 6 layered solid metal gaskets.. much like a turbo outlet gasket would look like..

 

i didn't ask any specifics.. but to me i can't see how one of those would blow out so easily..

 

just curious.. sorry if i'm beatin a dead bush here..

and phase 2.

I have only seen them once but the phase 1 had several layers and phase 2 may have been a single layer if I recall correctly.

Emily???

The original Phase I was a 3 layer affair. It had some black stuff on it around the cylinder holes (and some other places I think).

 

I'm not sure what the first and second revision of the gaskets were. I believe they were all 3 layer affairs. There was a detailed thread on this on i-club a couple of years ago.

 

The 3rd revision (and still the current one I believe) is a 4 layer affair.

 

I saw the Phase II head gasket when my engine was done (nearly 2 years ago, so it is probably not the current one). It was a single, thin, one layer metal gasket. There appeared to be something "extra" on it around the cylinder holes. That is, there was a slightly rough band with a slightly different metallic color at this point, about 1/8" wide.

 

I've just got my fingers crossed that mine will hold up. 120k kms now... so far, so good (97 OB).

 

Commuter

hold out too. It is slightly harder to drive with your fingers crossed.

this guy has a bunch of pictures of the phase I head gaskets and notes on their construction. you can view it here