Headgasket

Hi, Martin, It's been a while since I fitted a head gasket, but I seem to remember that you can only fit it one way. If you look at the front end (radiator end) of the block you will see the oil feed hole for the rocker shaft. Make sure that this hole is not covered when the gasket is in place. If the gasket will not seal, 1) do not use any kind of gasket sealer. 2) Check that the tops of the threads in the block are not raised up. If they are, clean them up with a countersink bit. 3) make sure that you tighten the studs in the correct order, basically working outwards from the centre. 4) If you have a torque wrench set it to 30 lb/ft and tighten, then reset it to 50lb/ft and retighten. 5)After warming the engine up, re-check the torque of the nuts.

If these tips do not help, you must have some distortion problem somewhere, either in the head or the block face.

Keith

You have to put the head gasket on so that it will roll down the length of you're penis, if it is upside down it won't work. Good luck stud.

Keith, Thanks for the detail. I'm good down to 5), will do this this morning. Finished it late last night, warmed it up and there is some seepage. Hopefully the re torque this morning will sort it. Thanks again Martin

OK I did 5) and it was no good. Went to the shop and got a Payen gasket. Spent 4 hrs this afternoon doing it in the rain.........all perfect now All ready for a trip to Malvern in the morning!!!!! Cheers

Hi, Glad to know that it all OK now. Good Mini-ing!!

Keith

Should have front stamped on it. Or some other part number which is the top side.

Martin,,, What was the actual cause of the problem ?? did you have time to find out, Fitzy

Fitzy, yes i did 2 things different, one i took the studs out and rubbed the block with emery cloth on a sanding block, having put greasy rags in all the holes. 2) I used a Payen Gasket.It cost £10 but its perfect, torque all way round half the final torque then go round again and up to full torque.......Job done.

Got a nice walnut dash at the Malvern show...new £50

I am a bit peaved, we should have been there at Malvern, we just had so many other family things that took priority, like fitting kitchens, floor tiles, wall tiles, and so on and so on, Never mind,,,, roll on Bingley in January,, glad you sorted it mate, Fitzy

Interesting.

They do recommend to torque the head down in 3 steps.

As most gaskets are now mono torque and have a coating over the gasket which melts and seals both on surfaces, these surfaces should be spotless and cleaned off with a solvent (thinners) to to remove any oil and grease.

If the gasket is not a mono torque then what is used is Hylomar to coat the surface of the gasket.

rm

Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat >

Martin, I had a similar problem last month. The head had been faced off, and the block showed less than 2 thou of distortion in the centre. But gaskets blew across bores 2 and 3 in less than 50 miles. I read up everything I could (and there is some conflicting advice out there...) and decided on one last course of action before a potential block strip for re-facing. I did the usual surgical cleaning of the faces. I got the latest version of the standard 1300 Payen head gasket (BK450/TAM1521). This is marked with either TOP or FRONT (water pump end) to make sure it goes on the right way round (there seems to be two oil holes now, so it is possible to fit it either way, but I believe only one way is right). I also bought a new set of standard studs, nuts and washers. I ran the nuts onto the threads first to check there was no tightness, and installed the studs with the usual precautions. With the head faces dry and clean, but a smear of thread lube on the top of the studs, I torqued it down first to 25 ft lbs. In roughly 5 ft lb increments, I took it down to a final figure of 45 ft lbs. With about

200 miles under its belt, all seems fine so far. I checked the valve clearances again and the compression pressures at the weekend. This engine only produced about 140 psi, so I'm hoping it will be alright now. If I had been running a higher compession ratio, I would have gone for MiniSpares HS11 or ARP studs, and a GEG300/AF460 or even a C-AHT188 head gasket, but those bits are serious money (for my pocket)! If the worst happens in the near future, I'll let you know. I hope this has been useful and that yours has settled down now too. Paul

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