At 06:06 PM 8/7/2000 -0600, Phil Bates wrote:
>My redcommendation is to get a Payen gasket (from federal moguel - sp?),
.... It is not copper, but I have had 2 copper head gaskets go bad on me
for no appearant reason .... The Payen gasket is a little more expensive,
and only comes in a kit, but it will fit very well.
Ditto my experience with failure of copper head gaskets, and never a
failure with a fiber head gasket. The Payen head gasket is not a special,
and it is available separately. The fiber gasket is standard spec for the
1975-1980 MGB (extra heat with the catalytic converter I guess). Moss part
number 296-405 will get you one of these.
I have one (Payen fiber gasket) in my hand now, and use them regularly on
my MGA. See nice picture(s) of this gasket here:
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg/mgtech/engine/cm202d.htm
The metal edging around the cylinders is about .048 inch thick and
compresses a little to affect a good compression seal. The fiber part of
the gasket is .044 inch thick and compresses not very much when the head
bolts are torqued. I haven't measured one after disassembly, but I'm
guessing not less than .035" inch after use.
I have on a few occasions installed two fiber head gaskets (for various
unusual reasons), and have also never had a gasket failure with this double
gasket installation. One additional head gasket .035" thick adds nearly 5
cc to the volume of the combustion chamber, so it will lower your
compression ratio quite a bit.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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