Grr...

Hard luck! Not sure if it's relevant, as my car is a bit older than yours, but I had a fair bit of trouble last year with head gaskets. All looked similar, all from reputable suppliers, but varied a lot in detail - including waterway holes and materials used. In the end I found it was worth the extra cost (not much) for original Payen gaskets. Not always easy to find and you have to watch out for counterfeits.

Geoff MacK

Not a problem - flat punch (sharp edges) onto the end grain of a block of hard wood.

With the flat punch I grind it flat to ensure the edges are sharp.

Took it back this morning and they swapped it for one of a slightly different design. The latest type, they said. The one they first gave me was the last they had of that style - although I wasn't given the choice then. Suspicious. The new one fouled two of the ports... I still had the original (bright steel) and offered that up just to check, and it was fine. It cleared them all. Went to the local Land Rover main dealer and got a genuine one - at 2.5 times the price. Looked identical to my replacement one, but cleared the ports. Phoned up AutoPost expecting at least an apology, but all they could say is they've sold hundreds with no complaints. So either I'm just plain unlucky, others haven't looked, or they're lying through their teeth...

My money is on them lying through their teeth.

Jim

LOL

Just about exactly mirrors my experience with the head gasket. Different materials, holes not lining up or even missing. The giveaway in my case was that the correct and original Payen gasket had "top" stamped on one side. Agreed it cost more (can't remember how much) but insignificant compared with the hassle of lifting the head again, and bearing in mind the varying thicknesses of materials used potentially resetting 12 tappets using shims....

A motor factor lying? Surely not....

Geoff MacK

I'm just curious why someone would go to the bother of setting up a machine to stamp these out but make a basic mistake? They can't involve any hand process surely?

The annoying thing is I've found them very helpful in the past with crossover stuff from Land Rover (which they specialise in) to the SD1.

Hah! I bought a front end pressing for a Triumph Dolomite from a motor factor, once. Apart from being roughly the right size everything about it was wrong in some way. Even the cut outs for mounting the indicators were the wrong size and had to be "adjusted" to fit.

That brings back memories - Toyota Corolla front guards replacement genuine parts were factory rejects in the first place. Third party guards made in Italy were a lot better and cheaper.

I can more understand it with a pattern panel since that involves complex curves, etc. But on a flat gasket?

Yeah, but it was more the "why would someone go to the bother" aspect of your post I was thinking of. Pattern body parts take a great deal of design and the cost of tool making can't be trivial so why would someone foul it up when word will get around that the parts are worthless?