[TR] Head Gasket Decision Time

Tony Drews tony at tonydrews.com
Wed Aug 31 00:56:38 MDT 2011


Just to add a touch - I agree with everything Randall says.  This is 
more on the solder vs. superglue...  Uncle Jack has used the copper 
wire on the shim steel head gasket and always used super glue to hold 
it in place while torquing things up.  The superglue worked fine, so 
I would bet it would work fine on the composite gasket too.

Tony Drews

At 06:28 PM 8/30/2011, Randall wrote:
>The solid copper gaskets are rather difficult to keep sealed, even when
>everything is "just so", since they compress very little on installation.
>
>My approach:
>
>1) Pull the manifolds and make sure where the coolant is coming from.
>Assuming it is the joint between head & block, pay particular attention to
>that area once the head is off; looking for any gouges, cracks, raised
>metal, etc.  In fact, if it is near one of the short studs, I would probably
>remove the stud and rub a flat machinist's file over the area to pick up any
>high spots.
>
>2) Pull the head.  Use a good straightedge to check the block surface
>(working around the liners) for flatness.  Also recheck protrusion on each
>side of each liner.
>
>3) Check that the head nuts spin easily all the way down the stud threads.
>If they bind partway down, replace the stud.
>
>4) Reassemble using a doctored standard gasket as I outlined before, using
>solder instead of superglue.
>
>The superglue was a suggestion from Ken Gillanders, and while it would
>_probably_ work fine, I know that solder works.  The extra half hour sitting
>at the dining room table (with lots of newspapers underneath) is a small
>price to pay, IMO.
>
>Wouldn't hurt to try to check the calibration of your torque wrench,
>especially if you are using a 'clicker' type.  Maybe a friend has a beam
>type you could borrow.
>
>You may still need to tear the engine down, but all this could be completed
>in a weekend (if you have the gasket & wire on hand).  IMO it's worth a try.
>
>-- Randall
>
>
>triumphs at autox.team.net
>
>Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
>Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
>Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
>Unsubscribe/Manage: 
>http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/tony@tonydrews.com


More information about the Triumphs mailing list