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Gasket Pointers

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M

mxp01

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Gentlemen:

Just to be sure...

There are diferent types of gaskets. Some require an applicator (for example, RTV fluid), but other don't. Can you tell me if you were applying the following gaskets, would you use anything with the installation:

- paper
- cork
- composite
and any others....
Thanks,
Mike Pennell
 
I <span style="font-style: italic">always </span>use blue RTV with my gaskets. A very thin coat on paper gaskets, a bit thicker for others, but never like "running a bead" or anything. Mostly just to keep it stuck in place while I'm putting it on. Don't know if it's absolutely proper, but it's the way I've always done it, 'cuz that's the way my Dad always did it.

Oh, only the top side of valve cover gaskets, to make it easier to pull the cover.
 
Mike, Paper would mostly be pan, engine plate, water pump, etc,. gaskets, I use Permatex Ultra Black RTV on these.

Cork useally does good dry, although I hate cork thermostat gasket and make my own out of paper.

Composite, like the head gasket can go on dry, or use a little copper or Hi Tack spray, we do that on the race car engines for easy removal, on the street engines, I normally put them on dry.

Hope this helps
 
I refrain from using RTV if it's a part of the car I think I'll be getting after on a regular basis. ie: the paper gaskets on my air filter - to carb mating surface remain dry. Lord only knows how many times I've had the air filters on and off.

Meanwhile, I've used RTV where I'm sure most people have not, like the paper gasket where the rear axles pop into the differential. I was tired of it leaking gear oil into my brake drums. Seems to have done the trick. And I dont plan on going back in there until the wheel bearings start howling.

Whoever owned the car before me used RTV to seal the plastic spacers from the carb-to-manifold mating surfaces. I suppose to ensure no air leaks. It's sort of ugly, the blue gunk sticking out. I peeled some of that away carefully. My cork valvecover gaskets are just dry cork. Again, I want to be able to reuse it if I have to, even though I have a spare on the side.

RTV doesn't ruin a gasket by shrinking it or anything like that. It just becomes tacky enough to almost be impossible to remove at a later date if you're wanting to reuse a gasket. I'm more liberal with RTV than many people, but I like knowing that there's a seal and I won't be leaking fluids past those seals I've made with it.

Whoever owned my 1954 Ford before me used RTV as a thick bead to create both the valvecover and oil pan gaskets. It actually works, but I'd say it's not ideal. I've since replaced the valvecover with a felpro cork gasket. I was tired of looking at blue gunk everywhere.

This summer when I rebuilt one of my Vespa engines, I used grease (regular old wheel bearing grease) on the surface of my engine case gaskets which are made of thin paper. It's just a tip I was given by someone. They said RTV could glue the case halves together and make it near impossible to split them again in 40 years when it needs rebuilt again.

So I think it's a matter of being aware of what you may be gluing together :wink:
 
I use High Tack spray on everything except head and manifold gaskets, which I put on dry. Also as Bill said he does, I only put it on the top of valve cover gaskets, mainly to keep them in place during assembly. Not saying that there aren't other great products out there. Spray High Tack is just my preference and it's easy.
 
I cut my own from the black paper and use Permatex non-hardening #2 Form-a-Gasket in a thin film. Easier to break apart and clean off than the silicone stuff. Pretty old school I guess, but it works and I'm a creature of habit. Like Hal, I never use the cork on the thermostat housing. Black paper and Permatex hold up better. (stainless steel bolts instead of studs and nuts)

Glen Byrns
 
I used Permatex "The Right Stuff" a few times in the past. In place of gaskets on an oil pan in fact. It's on my valve cover right now just because it was leaking and wouldn't seal and I had no new gasket and needed to be on the road. That stuff is like glue and if applied correctly and cured correctly it won't leak but it's a pain to break apart and clean up too! Now it's time for a valve adjust and I know I'm in trouble because that stuff is serious! Guess my point is different approaches for different applications, a known trouble area that doesn't need removal very often: oil pan (on an Opel motor). Haul out the big guns!
 
Permatex Anaerobic Gasket Maker. Holds and seals well but remains soft and plyable under most conditions. Used a lot in small aircraft engine assembly.
 
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