So its been 30 or so years since Ive been this deep in an engine and that of my ‘66 impala/ 283.

That’s my justification for tearing down my sons old 07 Legacy EJ25 to get to the problem...

I took the heads to the shop and just got them back, the guy said everything was good, valve guides, seats, etc., but mentioned that he ground them .008 to get them flat. Ive read that Subaru is very specific about their maximum resurfacing tolerances, but am still not quite clear on that.

Will I need shims or special gaskets, or will the replacements ordered through the Subaru OEM site do?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Get FSM here: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

 

The grinding limit is .004 for that head..

 Contact Cometic to see if they have a thick enough gasket to compensate.

 

O.

Check out this item at ebay 142713912360   from subarupartsdirect I buy most of my OE subi parts from them.  This won't help your head if it was shaved to much but it is an excellent source of original parts at really good prices with super fast shipping.    

You can get varying thicknesses of head gaskets from Cometic. Those engines have a pretty close tolerance between the piston dome and the head chamber. We have had to do that a time or two. You may have to mildly slot the intake. But it can be done. We have a high compression engine that we shaved the heads .040" and had to slot the intake, use a ratchet strap on the exhaust, and also use adjustable timing belt idlers with eccentric's in them to realign the belt. But it can be done. Subaru's specs are for being able to assemble it without any modifications. 

 

GD

ocei77, Montana tom and GeneralDisorder (is that the same as overall chaos?)

Great stuff, guys! thanks for the quick response. I called Cometic and spoke with Mike, who quickly settled the issue with their C4578-040 gaskets- beefier and .008 over OEM, should do the trick.

-may your thoughts be straight and your roads twisted!