Hey list,
This rambles a little, but the bottom line is that I am trying to find out
if reusing a head gasket is feasible, or a definite "don't do it."
Last weekend I believe I cracked a compression ring. As I was driving, the
first time out this year in my TR3, I noticed a decrease in power. Nothing
dramatic, just a loss of the "punch", which was there at the beginning of
the nearly three hour drive. This was accompanied by grey/blue smoking
from the crankcase (block) vent, mostly under acceleration, with some
smoking at idle and, I think, none on engine braking. No pinging,
knocking, piston slapping, etc. Idle is as smmoth as always and the
exhaust pipe contains dry fluffy black deposits, as usual. Observations
made as follows:
Lost almost a quart of oil in 140 miles, versus normal leak, 800-1000 miles,
No significant change in RPM with sequential spark plug wire
removal/attachment,
No oil in the coolant,
No coolant in the oil,
All spark plugs look great, light-medium brown, etc.,
Compression test (engine cold and dry) 80,140,135,135 psi (@%!#$^@#^@).
I redid the compression test in #1, after I added oil in the cylinder. The
compression rose to 110psi. I took the head off. The pistons and the head
look fine. Unfortunately, I left the "bad" piston at TDC, so I can't see
the liner yet. I hope to pull this piston with the poor compression
tonight. I'll keep y'all informed.
A local mechanic recommends reusing the head gasket, if it is in good
shape. He said to spray both sides lightly with Copper Kote(?), let it
dry, then respray and install wet. He told me he has done this for years.
My head gasket came off beautifully. It has indents where things get
compressed, but otherwise is perfect.
I know what you are thinking, it's only $35-40 for a new head gasket, and I
agree, however, I just called Moss, as I work 15 minutes from their eastern
warehouse. The headgasket is out of stock, both here in NJ and in Goleta,
CA too. I haven't called VB or TRF yet, but I am curious if anyone has had
consistantly good results from reusing a head gasket.
BTW, FYI - I recently acquired a TR4 non-running engine to rebuild as a
High HP engine for this car. To avoid really major work on the current
engine with the cracked compression ring, which is destined for mothballing
in a year or two anyway, I plan on leaving the liners in the engine. I
will lock the liners down, put an oily rag at the bottom of each bore,
lightly hone to break the glaze in the cylinders, and install new ring sets
on each piston.
Thanks for your input.
Jack
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