Copper head gasket question.
 

Ok so i got a SCE copper head gasket off ebay a year ago, it was 10 bucks! so i was assembling the motor today and one friend stated copper head gaskets are only used with O ring motors. After reading the directions they state "They recommend to use head gasket with O ring head or block" now it only states they "recommend" so will this gasket work or should i use MLS? at this point i did spray the gasket with copper sealant and torqued down the head, so i was planning on running it unless this is going to be a recipe for disaster, opinion or any info on this would be great!

Depends on the surface finish of the head and block.

Now if they were prepped for a MLS gasket to start with you should be ok for the surface finish.

Now the O ring question, well that will depend on boost level and your state of tune.

If you are a down under 20 psi you should be ok with out the orings...

If over 30 psi.. get the orings

between 20-30 you are in no mans land.. so flip a coin

i took the block to the machine shop, i told them i was going to use a copper gasket and showed it to the machinist, he didnt say anything against it. Nothing was done to the deck, the motor was rebuilt maybe 10k ago with Weisco pistons. the machinist took it apart, inspected the rings, put new bearings in and balanced the motor. He did not touch the deck or suggest to. It was pretty clean. It previously had a mls head gasket on it. So will it be ok to use the copper with out o ring?

Why the ---- would you disassemble an engine with a presumably working MLS gasket and then rebuild it only to drop a copper gasket in? Copper gaskets suck compared to MLS. The only real "downside" to MLS is that it is much pickier as to your surfacing on the engine.

Was the block deck during the first rebuild?

Yes

If the block was decked before and held the MLS, and the block has been checked and is still flat, you should have no issues with the copper gasket.