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TR2/3/3A cooper head gaskets packaged improperly

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sp53

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Well I got my gasket kit and it was either packaged improperly or the damaged in shipping, so I talk to my friend who does a lot of old hotrods and he saw it and said no big deal spry some cooper stuff on the head gasket and it will be fine because cooper head gaskets are very forgiving and the dents will press out. Does that sound correct? Anyways I could play it safe and send it back. I just dislike it when my perfectionism causes me grief.
 
Send it back! No question about it. Copper or any other material, if damaged, I would never use it. If you install it and it leaks, who's to say you didn't damage it during installation. Be safe, send it back and have them replace it. JMHO. PJ
 
I agree. Might work OK, but why take the chance? Unless of course you would enjoy having to R&R the head again next weekend.
 
Hard to tell without a pic. A copper gasket compresses +- 50% - far more than regular head gaskets. But if it's a crease it's nfg. We really need a pic to say for sure.
 
For sure Bruce, I tried earlier and gave up because of the flash, but I put the camera on M and got this shot.
 

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On that side (cylinder) send it back. If it had been on the lifter side I would have opted for a bit more gasket cement.
 
It looks like more of a some bends than a sharp crease in the picture, which leads me to think it would flatten out when you torque the head down, but that is what I think, not what I know, might not be a bad idea to send it back. The perfectionist thing is all relative I think, I might try to use it (would depend on closer personal inspection) so I am probably a little happy go lucky about such things, but I visited a guy a couple years ago who was about to put a head on an MGB (for the second time because of problems with the first try I might add) and the gasket was sitting in place, he was telling about how well he had cleaned everything up and prepped it, and how it was all ready to go back on, I could see chunks of I don't know what kind of debris sitting on the head gasket, dirt, carbon from the pistons, quite visible whatever it was, was horrified, politely pointed out that it might not be a bad idea to clean it up a little better, and he sort of half-heartedly replied that he supposed he might in a very "what's the big deal?" kind of way. I heard the car was inop a year or so later, though I did not hear why....
 
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