Quick couple of questions:

What is the difference between 1.8l gasket sets and 2.0 sets?
Is it just the head gaskets and a different intake gasket?
2.0 is out of stock almost everywhere and what's available is expensive.

I'm planning on using 96mm head gaskets anyway so the gaskets which come in a 2.0 kit will not be used.

I found copper 96mm gaskets on Aircooled.net and will either use them or none at all.
I'm planning on a quench distance of .035" using hypereutectic pistons and it might be beneficial to use no gaskets at all.

What are you guys using for front and rear main seals?
Seems the good ones are discontinued and I'm not sure what the best options are now.

Do you anneal the exhaust copper seals when new or are they dead soft initially?

What are my options guys?
I'm very brand specific when I know which brand is best.
Right now, I don't have this knowledge.
The target engine is a 73 2.0l

Do some searching here. There is a strong debate for NOT using head gaskets.

I'm leaning that way.
Removing any extraneous parts from an assembly usually makes the assembly more robust.
It will make quench distance (deck height) computations easier as well.

Now, if you didn't need the head gaskets (which I would call "fire rings") which gasket set do you prefer?

There is a Jake Raby video on rear main seals now floating around on YouTube, as well as on the Facebook Type4 Performance group

My last build I lapped the cast iron cylinders (AA 96mm) to the head mating surfaces then used Plasti gage to check the contact area without a head gasket. All checked out and she runs down the road great.

You might want to take a look at 0.035” that is getting tight. Not sure anyone out there is recommending below 0.040” on the tight end.

Maybe you’re doing other things to manage valve clearance, rod stretch, and compression ratios.

Just be aware that is getting tight.

The muffler gaskets would also be different. Also the "intake boots" that go from the plenum to the intake runner pipes, but I'm not sure those are included in a gasket set. Ditto stuff like the cold start valve gasket, and a couple of other things in the intake.

There are a few things that list different parts but that I'm pretty sure can be interchanged. I believe that the copper exhaust rings are examples of those.

--DD

Thank you Dave!
That's the information I was looking for.

That's a good idea.
I have 4 different grades of lapping compound.
I'm prone to lap all sorts of stuff that most folks wouldn't

One question.
How did you use plasti-gauge to check contact area?
I've used both Dykem Blue (messy) and for the last couple of decades simple black sharpie to check lap patterns (not messy at all).

I wouldn't have even considered plasti-gauge...

I do use plasti-gauge as a final "make sure my measurements were good" check.
I do engine work the old fashion way with mics and use it as a verification quality control check only.

Hey guys, I already wanted to delete the head gaskets before I found out it is SOP.
I've been building high performance engines for 3 decades, just not VW air-cooled engines.

I was an ASE Certified Master Machinist (doesn't really mean much) and on my last re-certs found out they no longer have machinist certification tests...
You can now be a certified "Master Automotive Parts Specialist" and it was all just a money game from the start.
I dropped all of my ASE certs at that time... Double master Automotive and Macinist,
L1 advanced. They will not get any more money from me...

The only reason I don't do all of my machining jobs is I don't own the expensive machinery that is required.

I cut a small (3/8") or so piece of Plasti gage and placed 4 pieces at the top of each cylinder at quarter points, bolted the head down to torque, took everything apart and inspected each piece of Plasti gage. They all had compressed the same amount, telling me the cylinder to cylinder head contact was good. I was leery of not using a head gasket and this confirmed for me all was good. This was over a year ago and she runs out well.

Didn't aircooled.net shutdown?

Go to one of the main aircooled shops.

https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/1976.htm