Rep Power: 425

So I was told something that didn't make much sense to me, but robbclark said to use copper sealant on the gasket when I put it on. Which makes no sense to me, because its like sealing the seal. Did some googling and found that some people recommend siliconing the gasket to the head prior to bolting the header in place. So whats the deal? I was thinking gasket like put it in between and torque the bolts down on it, boom seals like it should assuming everything's flat. Seems like silicone, even the high temp stuff would melt to goo, and I've never heard of using copper sealant in there before. I figured someone would have said it by now.
Other thing I can't figure out is there's 2 lengths of bolts, if I'm buying new ones, how many of each do I need, or better yet, is there a stud conversion kit available?

 
Rep Power: 300

If i remember correctly there are 3 studs with nuts and 2 bolts holding the manifold to the head. I wouldnt use any type of sealand just a new OEM metal gasket. Honda doesnt use any type of sealant stock.

 
Rep Power: 328

no sealant is needed unless you have some imperfections in one or both surfaces. Sometimes in the past when doing a head gasket ive used copper spray, it helps fill VERY small voids in either of the 2 surfaces. Silcone is a temp fix for VERY huge imperfections and i dont recommend it. Most likely you wont need either

 
Rep Power: 453

just like tnaff said, you shouldnt need a sealant. When I broke my old OEM header and installed a new one, I just slid the new gasket over the studs and slid the manifold on and torqued it down, and dont have any leaks.

 
Rep Power: 281

I just replaced old gasket with new one and tightened all bolts, nothing else

 
Rep Power: 812

yes exactly. they sell some ultra copper silicone sealant that is resistant to very hi temps but you shouldn't need it.