again I don't know much about this here Austin motor stuff.. only done a
couple of them.... but I understand basic's
A Gasket is used to create a uniform seal between two imperfect surfaces....
the more perfect the surfaces the less the requirement for a gasket in the
first place....
The Copper gasket requires some type of liquid sealer material as even dead
soft copper can't create a perfect seal with the limited pressure we can
create with the seperation of the head bolts ( read clamping pressure if you
like)
Like several of you I am a fan of the paper gaskets with Virtually Nothing
else... to be honest I sneak in a little silicone gasket sealer rubbed on
my fingers then wiped around the gasket in areas where the water flows
between the two... but keep in mind you don't see much of this material on
the gasket as your just wiping it around... you ain't globbing it.... NEVER
do that.... it inevitably will end up in the oil pump pick up... ( can you
see this failure coming )
This is the way I use gasket sealer on all my gaskets by the way..... dap on
my index finger...rub it between my thumb and then stick the gasket there
and coat both sides... but I try not to leave anything more then a Film I
just add a bit more sealer to my fingers as I go around the
gasket.......it's all that is required... your sealing surfaces don't have
to be perfect... but they should be pretty good.... and by the way unless I
have something mechanically happen my motors don't leak fluids...
I use the Blue for water and oil and the copper for my exhaust stuff.... and
I actually seal my headers to the motor without a gasket...( yeah the
mateing surfaces are that well matched )
MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND NOT TO GLOB this stuff.... It's the one mistake I
see over and over again....besides it just looks like someone didn't know
what they were doing.... think about it... if the gasket material is hanging
out Globbed around the outside there is an equal amount on the inside and
that is going into your engine... if your thinking it's just the water
side....yeah could be... so now it's in your radiator fan rows or the
petcock valve for your heater...
Keith ( again I only know what I do... your mileage may vary )
I love it... just re-read it and I said it three times... guess that tells
you my opinion on that form of Cobbeling.... )
----- Original Message -----
From "Frank Clarici" <spritenut at Exit109.com>
To: "Bryan Vandiver" <bryan.vandiver@sun.com>
Cc: "Robert Sexson" <rsexson@excite.com>; <spridgets@autox.team.net>;
<mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: head gasket
> Bryan Vandiver wrote:
> >
> > The first time I rebuilt my 1275, I used 'coppercoat' on one of the
> > copper gaskets from MM, and had nothing but problems with oil/water
> > leakage.
> > I replace it with a new 'fibre' gasket from MM (the one they say they
> > use on their own race engines) with no coating at all, and haven't had >
a problem since.
>
> I too had nothing but problems with copper head gaskets.
> Of all the blown or leaky head gaskets (close to a dozen by now) all
> have been copper. I am a firm believer in the paper head gaskets too.
> My son did blow a paper gasket but that was to to a severe overheat
> problem and a temp sensor in the radiator not the head. (stuck t/stat
> said the radiator was at normal temp but the head baked to a nice black
> color)
> Paper blow for a good reason, the copper ones just blow because it's
> your daughters car, some one just came to buy the car, you are in the
> middle of an interstate hiway on Sunday 3 hours from home, It's midnight
> and raining, all of the above.
>
> I never use sealer on head gaskets.
> --
>
> Frank Clarici
> Toms River, NJ
> Too Many Sprites Again
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