I've recently joined the blown head gasket club with my 2001 Outback (EJ25 phase2 SOHC; about 115,000 miles). I've pulled the engine and I'm doing all the usual maintenence stuff as well (oil pump seals, new water pump, rear main seal, timing belt & tensioner, new clutch, etc.). I dissassembled the heads (removed rocker arms and camshafts) and took them to a machine shop to check for warpage, press in new valve seals, etc. My Subaru Tech manual recommends using ThreeBond 1280B (or equivalent) when reinstalling the camshafts/camshaft cover. I've searched the postings, but can't find any reference to this particular sealant. I know that Threebond 1215 can be replaced by Permatex 599, and I'll be using this to reseal the oil pump. What do you all recommend for the camshaft cover if I can't find Threebond 1280B ?

 

By the way, these forums have been an invaluable source of information for this project. Thanks for all the assistance. I'll post a thead with some notes and observations about this project when I'm done, with links to photos. My next project is removal and complete overhaul of the EA82 in my 'old reliable' 93 Loyale, which now has 308,000 miles...

Please read the FAQ sticky

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=519865#519865

I've recently joined the blown head gasket club with my 2001 Outback (EJ25 phase2 SOHC; about 115,000 miles). I've pulled the engine and I'm doing all the usual maintenence stuff as well (oil pump seals, new water pump, rear main seal, timing belt & tensioner, new clutch, etc.). I dissassembled the heads (removed rocker arms and camshafts) and took them to a machine shop to check for warpage, press in new valve seals, etc. My Subaru Tech manual recommends using ThreeBond 1280B (or equivalent) when reinstalling the camshafts/camshaft cover. I've searched the postings, but can't find any reference to this particular sealant. I know that Threebond 1215 can be replaced by Permatex 599, and I'll be using this to reseal the oil pump. What do you all recommend for the camshaft cover if I can't find Threebond 1280B ?

 

By the way, these forums have been an invaluable source of information for this project. Thanks for all the assistance. I'll post a thead with some notes and observations about this project when I'm done, with links to photos. My next project is removal and complete overhaul of the EA82 in my 'old reliable' 93 Loyale, which now has 308,000 miles...

Looking forward to your experience with the headgaskets

I didn't see Threebond 1280B listed in that link though. I did note this in EndWrench previously:

 

Three Bond Sealer 1280B - Subaru of America has located a source this sealer in the U.S. The sealer should be ordered from your Subaru parts department under part number SOA5499100. One tube can be used for approximately seven engines. If you are working on an H-6 that requires this sealer, be sure to use Three Bond 1280B and not Three Bond 1215.

 

A google search for Threebond 1280B does yield some hits, mostly for the threebond website, but there is reference to it as 'GM liquid gasket sealer' as well.

 

One of the Subaru sites I've seen Threebond products listed is here: http://www.subaruparts.com/cart/?pn=SOA5499100 They must not have that page spidered by google because a google search for SOA5499100 yields no hits.