[Healeys] head gaskets

[David Porter]

Bill,
  FYI, I have a good head coming up in the rotation very soon. Pretty 
sure the customer will be willing to part with it..
Dave

On 10/29/2015 9:09 PM, WILLIAM B LAWRENCE wrote:
>
>
> Gary,
>
> I've had a chronic problem keeping head gaskets in my 2660. A standard 
> gasket would last a couple months before it burned in two between #2 
> and #3 cylinders. I bought a solid copper gasket and it solved the 
> burn through problem, but it was impossible to seal the oil and water 
> passages so I've long had massive oil leaks and oil contaminating the 
> coolant. I've tried o-ringing the oil and water passages which helped 
> somewhat but didn't last. I recently experienced a burned piston and 
> so am rebuilding the engine. (I drove it  as long as I could before 
> pulling the engine.) The machinist who milled the top of the block 
> said that it resembled a ski jump. The block was low on one corner and 
> he had to take 0.012" off of it to make it flat. That explains a lot. 
> It also displayed very poor workmanship by the last machine shop 
> having a very heavy and irregular tool pattern that militated against 
> gasket sealing.
>
> In researching theoretical fixes for head gasket problems I took to 
> the internet and read up on the new technology which is the MLS 
> gasket. Multi Layer Steel gaskets consist of three layers of steel 
> with their outer faces coated with a resilient teflon layer that is 
> the actual sealing medium. The three layers of steel can slide over 
> each other to a certain extent allowing the head and block to expand 
> differentially in relation to one another without stressing or 
> damaging the gasket. The resilient layer seals and fills unevenness in 
> the mating surfaces. in order to work the mating surfaces have to be 
> machined very smooth (to a maximum roughness average (RA) of 60). 
> Fortunately that is the standard for most engines these days anyway 
> and is easily done. I'm in the middle of the rebuild now and I've 
> purchased an MLS gasket from Denis Welch Motorsport. They claim it 
> solves the gasket leakage problems that are so common on the 4 
> cylinder and it can be reused twice in most cases. With a smooth flat 
> engine block, a modern high tech gasket and a good rebuilt cylinder 
> head (Needs a crack repair of course.) I'm hoping to see a lot of 
> miles disappearing in my rear view mirrors again soon. And maybe even 
> gain a little control my oil consumption.
>
> Bill Lawrence
>
> Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2015 10:52:47 -0400
> From: warthodson at aol.com
> To: healeys at autox.team.net
> Subject: [Healeys] head gaskets
>
> I thought I could get a good argument started on the subject of head 
> gaskets. AH Spares recently announced that they are offering 
> multi-layered all steel head gaskets for Healeys. Suitable for both 
> competition & street engines and aluminum heads to cast iron or 
> aluminum blocks. Presumably, also cast iron heads, but the ad did not 
> state that.
> I know they are not alone in offering improved head gaskets.
> Being a cynic, I have to wonder if steel gaskets are really better 
> that copper gaskets or are they just cheaper to manufacture?
> Being an engineer, I have to wonder if a steel gasket is really a good 
> choice for an aluminum head, especially in the sealing ring area 
> around the cylinders?
> Gary Hodson
>
> _______________________________________________ Support Team.Net 
> http://www.team.net/donate.html Suggested annual donation $12.75 
> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive Forums: 
> http://www.team.net/forums Healeys at autox.team.net 
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/healeys Unsubscribe/Manage: 
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/ynotink@msn.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation  $12.75
> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
>
> Healeys at autox.team.net
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/healeys
>
> Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/frogeye@porterscustom.com
>

-- 
Dave Porter Porter Custom Bicycles 2909 Arno St. NE Albuquerque, NM 
87107 505-352-1378 Go HERE: my world www.porterbikes.com/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/healeys/attachments/20151030/30af2144/attachment.html>