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head with rust pits on the face

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Jerry

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I need your opinions on the pits due to rust that are on the face of the head. these are very small but are they significant? The size of the pits are about 1/64 deep. Can I use a head sealent to take care of this?

Thanks

Jerry
BN4
 
If the pits are not near edge of the coolant passages, or cylinder bores, a Felpro head gasket with the sticky sides will probably seal it up.

One possibility is to have the head milled 10thou and see how it cleans up. The only problem is you do not know if it had been milled before. At the least, take it to a machine shop & have them check for straightness. Mine needed 3thou taken off to true, and it had been sitting bolted on for 30 years prior.
 
Pete ,

Where do you get a Felpro head gasket? Everyone that I have ever ordered was the standard copper type. Is there any chance they come in different thicknesses? Actually I will be measureing the head vs an old head that I have. I don't want the compression too high, already had that problems.

Jerry
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Jerry,

Permatex has a nifty product called Copper Spray-A Gasket. Its a high temp. copper filled sealant that can be used on both sides of your head gasket.

SB
 
I have used the copper spray gasket product and it works well. A little harder to remove if you need to redo your work.

Jerry
 
If you guys will allow a non-Healey guy to comment - I have also used the copper spray and have been very happy with it!

Basil
(Ok, I'll go crawl back in my hole)
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Basil,

You own the forum and can comment on anything. Besides, I own a Triumph Tr3 also. I would love to have an XK 140 someday! They are getting a little expensive! For some reason my wife does not like the look of the XKE but I do.

Jerry
 
Jerry: I think your local parts houses such as NAPA, Pep Boys, or whatever you have, are the most likely sources for Felpro gaskets. You can call around and see about that. I hear good things about Felpro gaskets. AL Bradley '59 AN-5, '59 BT-7
 
Jerry;
I purchased the upper gasket kit in 1997 from Brittanic Classics, and the sticky sided gasket was in the kit. Phone is 203-263-2460, Brad del Sorbo. I have since bought another kit from elsewhere(don't remember)and that one had the copper head gasket.
 
Jerry, When I did the engine over on the '74 Midgit I was working on, I found a sand pit in the head every close to the edge of the metal gasket edge of one of the cylinders. Found it as I was trial fitting the head gasket. It seems that everyone involved with the head work to that point believed that It wasn't close to anything significant so the gasket would just seal it. But the proximaty to the edge of the sealing band had me worried. But this was a buget rebuild for a young fellow in the neigborhood so we didn't want to go through the expense of taking the head apart and welding it. I dremeled out the pit alittle bit and filled it with JP Weld. Another like product is Locktight Cold Weld. Then I hand filed it flat. It might sound crude but by doing it by hand I was able to get the surface vary accurate. The engine is still running well. Been a couple of years now.

Dave
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