Re: Head gasket 1 time use?


[Follow Ups] [Post Followup] [Dodge Power Wagon Forum]


Posted by Sherman in Idaho [24.32.202.166] on Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 14:47:41 :

In Reply to: Head gasket 1 time use? posted by Sterling from Texas [99.98.76.231] on Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 11:38:04 :

I would re-use it if it's an old copper-foil gasket, and it came off in good condition. I just don't like throwing out those old ones. The new ones made of fiber with aluminum inserts and covered with some sort of secret sauce usually don't come off intact anyway.

A lot depends on how long the gasket was on there. I once forgot to do the final torque-down on my honda car engine. After going about 100 miles, it started blowing a nice cloud of steam out the exhaust pipe. I pulled into a gas station, filled up the radiator, got it back home with another refill or two, torqued the head bolts down to spec, and drove it another 100,000 miles that way. I'm sure I "should" have pulled the head off, had it checked for warpage, and put on a new gasket, but I didn't and it worked fine even though that motor puts a lot more stress on its head gasket than an old flathead does.

I agree about spraying with copper coat, although I didn't do that on the honda because it was too hard to get the head off. On the flathead, you've already got it apart so that part is easy. If there's remnants of old gasket sealer on the gasket, block, or head, clean it off with whatever solvent you have that works, so there are no little bumps left to cause leaks. You've got an engine with maybe 100 psi compression if you're lucky, a cast iron head and block that expand at the same rate and probably aren't warped, and plenty of cooling water. In the old days it was common on lots of engines to pull the head and "have a look" and then put it back on with the same gasket, even before modern magic gasket spray.



Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link
URL:
Title:
Optional Image Link
URL:


This board is powered by the Mr. Fong Device from Cyberarmy.com