on and around the bead a11a as shown in fig3 the coatings a16 are made of soft materials to provide resiliency gum such as nbr gum and silicone gum is preferred but soft resin may be used the thickness of the coating a16 is 5 100 micra preferably 10 50 micra the lower plate a12 includes a hole a17 for the cylinder hole hc and a hole a18 for the water hole hw the lower plate a12 is also provided with a bead a12a adjacent the hole a18 to seal around the water hole hw an end portion of the lower plate a12 is situated between the flange a10b and the middle plate a11 when the gasket a is situated between two engine blocks not shown and is tightened the bead a11a provides sealing pressure around the cylinder hole hc while the beads a10c a12a provide sealing pressure around the water hole hw in the present invention it is important that the coating is made of a soft material as a result the soft material seals properly between the plates to thereby prevent leakage of fluid from the water hole hw also it is important that the coating is not formed adjacent the cylinder hole hc this is because if the coating is exposed to high temperature creep relaxation of the soft material occurs to cause leakage around the cylinder hole hc and water hole hw namely an effective coating material around the water hole hw is weak against heat therefore the middle plate is not directly exposed to the cylinder hole and coatings are formed on the middle plate at an area away from the cylinder hole hc generally small scratches are formed on outer surfaces of an engine block when manufacturing the engine.