Head Gasket material.

I've been waiting for a Stuart Turner head gasket to turn up for my P5XC but in the meantime I've decided to have a bash at making my own. Trouble is I'm stuck on two different materials, one is an asbestos free material, 1.5mm thick and the other is a sandwich of a similar material on either side of a thin sheet of steel (supposedly designed for manifolds and head gaskets but a lot harder to cut to shape!)

I recently met a bloke at a rally who recommended non asbestos sheet but I wondered if anyone here had any first hand experience of either of these gasket materials?

I would put links up to the stuff I've found on ebay but not sure if I can put links up yet as I'm a new member. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Ian

Ian there's not a problem with you posting links if it will allow you (sometimes you have to be a forum member for 7 days)
Is this the type of stuff your talking about?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230714588161?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Stu.

hi there
i use this chap for most of my gasket materials !!!!!!!!!!!! and kellogs for the rest lol !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gaskets Direct Limited
Mike Phillips
48 High Street
Heckmondwike
West Yorkshire
WF16 0AQ
United Kingdom 01924|406088 Email: mike@motorseal.co.uk


i find it easyer to cut out than you would think, by doing it this way i found with experreance
TOOLS I USE :-
small ball pain hammer and a ballbearing that will sit on top of the stud HOLE or bolt holes ,but doesnt fit in the hole.
cutting:-
1)##########using the flat surface pop you gasket material on top cut out the center as needed by tapping the small end of the ballpain on the edge with a light tap
going in a continous line then cut it out free with the second trip arround,
2) *********** find the stud holes with you finger ,push down to leave as bowl effect for the ball bearing to site in,then with the hammer give the ballbearing a couple of taps ,now you have a crisp clean hole for the bolts and studs to go through
3)$$$$$$$$$$$$ now go around again with the small end of the ballpain hammer and cut the outside out
4) now you have a very nice DIY head gasket

hope this is of help for you and others to follow
kev

stationary stu wrote:Ian there's not a problem with you posting links if it will allow you (sometimes you have to be a forum member for 7 days)
Is this the type of stuff your talking about?


Stu.

That's one of them, but I am leaning towards the cheaper and easier to cut non asbestos sheet. I don't mean to be such a tightwad but I think that would be plenty good enough for the job. Its from the same place but is called non asbestos gasket sheet.

If the general consensus of opinion is to go for the stuff with steel in it then that's what I'll do but if anyone who has any first hand experience of using both or either material reckons the cheaper stuff is fine then I'll happily go with that. Its been quite a long time since I rebuilt an old engine.

Sorry Kev, I can't quite follow your instructions there, do you mean you can cut through it with just a hammer? I would have thought you need a sharp edge of some sort?

I'm not feeling too great at the moment so maybe my concentration isn't very good I'm probably not making much sense myself! Thanks for the replies

yes mate
thats what i am saying,
use a hammer on the gasket paper on the edges of the surface were the gasket will be going,
then it is cut a copy of the compressed surfaces when bolted together
tapping the gasket with a hammer is easyer and better finish than using a knife or sissors
please tap tap tap with the rounded small end of hammer ,
and not smack smack crack with a
kev

I use Klingersil...non asbestos for head gaskets and like Kev....Kellogs for the rest and sometimes Income Tax brown envelopes .

i,ve just made a new headgasket with 2mm non asbestos for my mc cormick deering la, it had oodles of compression and runs quite hot and has not been a problem at all, cheers jon

Nice one chaps, I'll order some of the cheaper stuff in 1.5mm and get cracking. I've had this engine over 3 weeks now (possibly 4) and the kids want to see a running engine and I want to see their little faces light up!

I'll give the ball pein hammer trick a try as well. Thanks to everyone for the fantastic advice

Real shame I can't seem to find copper sheet anywhere though, I bet if I could the cost would be prohibitive!

You should be able to find copper sheet on ebay if you run a search, it will either be in modelling or metal working.

Just did a quick search but didn't know what size you wanted but there's plenty to check out.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3910.m570.l1311&_nkw=copper+sheet&_sacat=0

Stu.

I am so crap at searching on the internet!
I tried searching on ebay days ago and got nothing, god knows what I typed in

Maybe I'll treat myself to some copper next rebuild, not sure how well it would work between 2 cast iron surfaces on a water cooled engine though, or how thick I would need it