Do you use sealant at the bottom of the cylinder?

[Jerry]

Do you use sealant and what type at the bottom of the cylinder sleaves on a TR3 motor? This would be on the "figure eight" gaskets. Thanks for your input

Jerry

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi Jerry,

Yes, most definitely use sealant. This is particularly true if the figure 8 gaskets are the steel type. If so, coat with sealer very carefully all over to help delay rust as long as possible (seals are in contact with the water jacket and coolant on one side). Copper figure 8 gaskets are better, if at all possible.

I'd use Permatex Form-a-gasket or similar on either type of seal. It doesn't need to be thick, just thorough. Be sure the shelves in the block that the seals and sleeves sit on are scrupulously clean, too!

Did you trial fit and check that the liner/sleeves protrude the correct .003-.005" above the deck height, too? That's important for the head gasket to seal properly.

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[Banjo]

Ditto to Alan. I used the avation sealant.It's very similar to the old "welseal"

 

[Jerry]

My old seals gaveup and liners were too low on the block. It caused a constant low leak of coolant into the cylinder. We did a pressure test with soapy water and you could see the leaks. I will use Permatex #2 as suggested. I don't have the aviation seal but might look for some at the next auto parts run.

thanks for the advice.

Jerry

 

[Geo Hahn]

Re: Do you use sealant at the bottom of the cylind

[ QUOTE ]
...I will use Permatex #2 as suggested...

[/ QUOTE ]

The 'aviation' stuff is at any auto parts store (not many airplane parts stores in my neighborhood). It #3H in the small bottle. I suspect that is the formulation Alan was referring to (the term 'Form-a-Gasket' is used on several of their products).

 

[sp53]

Re: Do you use sealant at the bottom of the cylind

I am glad you made the post about the figure eight sealing because I am quandary about the same issue. The restoration I am doing is going to take some time, as a result, I will have the pistons in long before I get the head on the engine. My fear was that I would not be able to get an even seal on the figure eights later when I torque the head at 100 psi. I was concerned that the permatex would dry before I got to the final torques. My machinist buddy, who is highly respected, thought that I should paint the figure eights with silver spray paint. The paint would stay soft, not let them rust as much, provide a seal, and provide me with time to dilly dally as I restored the vehicle. However, they did come from the factory with welseal a permatex kinda stuff. I did what my machinist buddy suggested, but I have not started it up yet. I would appreciate any fed back because the more I think about it, the better wetseal sounds.

Sp53

 

[Alan_Myers]

Re: Do you use sealant at the bottom of the cylind

[ QUOTE ]
My machinist buddy, who is highly respected, thought that I should paint the figure eights with silver spray paint. The paint would stay soft, not let them rust as much, provide a seal, and provide me with time to dilly dally as I restored the vehicle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi,

Actually I've heard of using metallic spray paints as a sealer, too. In fact, we did that on the head gasket when I had to have an on-the-road emergency repair to a Ford 6-cylinder (it sucked in some screws and parts from the carb or air cleaner, of all things... made a racket but didn't damage anything...had to remove the head to get all the little bits out of the cylinders, fortunately no damage was done).

In that case, the mechanic had been a Ford commercial truck dealer and service facility for 30 years, seemed to really know what he was doing. He said he often used cheap metallic paint for head gaskets. There are dozens of trucks toodling around Oregon that he's worked on at one point or another. I was lucky to break down just a few miles from his shop!

My van continued running fine for as long as I owned it afterward (several years with a total of 160K+ miles, if I recall correctly), and kept on going for at least a few years beyond that I'm aware of.

So, your buddy may have given you really good advice. If the engine is all back together, I'd try it and after the first time it runs drop the sump to check carefully for any leaks. If the motor is still out of the car and relatively disassembled, so it wouldn't be too big a deal to do, I'd be tempted to take it back apart the rest of the way to use a different sealer, just to put my mind at rest.

In the past, I've used some spray on coppery head gasket sealer that would probably be good in this application, too. Thorough coverage with a sealer that sets up is what's most important. Not too think, or it will squeeze out, or possibly raise the sleeves more than the allowable .005" above the deck height. I'd avoid any silicon/RTV sealer that would likely squeeze out and chunk off around the edges, might get into the oil or coolant circuits and possibly cause problems.
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[PeterK]

Re: Do you use sealant at the bottom of the cylind

When I was into air-cooled VWs (which also have replaceable cylinder jugs) we would use Permatex Aviation form-a-gasket #2 non-hardening. That was 40 years ago and I still use the stuff. It is the right stuff for the FO8 gaskets. Just smear on evenly on the deck where the FO8 gaskets sit and also on the top side of the gasket. Complete coverage is important but don't apply too much.

And as Alan said RTV is a big no-no inside an engine. Copper gasket sealer (spray) would work equally well too. The trick with this stuff is to spray it on both sides and let dry overnight before installing the gaskets.