is this the right head gasket for the mk1 gti???

tighten up the headbolts till the pockets pop yeah? then the torques are correct???



then trim off the excess tape ?????  

Use a smear of gasket sealer.
Don't torque it - tighten it to FT!

ahh gotcha!

gasket sealer, then FT.!  

on it!

I personally prefer to leave the gasket out and then sellotape around the join between head and block, much easier to change in future.

Duct tape for higher compression ratios 

das_auto said

I personally prefer to leave the gasket out and then sellotape around the join between head and block, much easier to change in future.

   for the fancy pants among us, exhaust tape will decay all by itself after around 1000 miles    Couple of minutes on the redline to finish it off, there's no messy removal, just wrap it up again!