OK, my marine supplier's mechanic recommends leaving the head gasket dry but said could use HiTack spray on the water jacket gasket, so that is what I'll do. I wonder if the spray for the water jacket gasket is more for prevention of water penetration? Oh well.
I recently watched Dangar Marine on youtube do a head gasket and he sprayed the gasket with "polymer". When I look at the head gasket I have, the metal rings for the cylinder openings appear to show a bit of a coating so I suspect these gaskets have been OEM treated in a similar fashion, so I...
I presume the "no sealant" comment would equally apply to the water jacket that bolts onto the cylinder head, correct? I just picked up head gasket and water jacket gasket and they appear to be of the same material.