Head gasket removal- timing chain question

I've found gaskets to be about ~50% reliable after first fitting them. So far I've had 100% success with gunge, including in-situe, if cleaned properly first.

Another problem with the gaskets is the ease with which any one of the three covers can be cracked when installing a new gasket. You have to go around every bolt in a circuit about 5 times to get them tight enough to seal without cracking. NB this applies only to the ally covers and the fibre gaskets. The steel covers should use the rubber gaskets.

Can't be that tricky, they did produce nearly a million engines like that..

Rrrrright. So definitely do/dont use gaskets is the consensus.As for the little dowels, are these often a pain?

Use the gaskets and put some sealant on the cover bolts as well .
Pain how ?Are they stuck in ?have you got the heads off ?

Use the gaskets and put some sealant on the cover bolts as well .
Pain how ?Are they stuck in ?have you got the heads off ?

Yes, and if you find the gasket tricky to handle (ie the timing cover one) actually 'stick' it to what your placing it to first, with a light tacky glaze of sealer in a couple of areas to hold it in position.

Rrrrright. So definitely do/dont use gaskets is the consensus.As for the little dowels, are these often a pain?

The dowells aren't a pain as long as they're protruding from the block. Getting them out if you've knocked them down is a proper challenge. As Lee said, you can ignore the manual and just wallop the side of the head with a rubber mallet to lift the head off without knocking the dowells down. I then use a pair of mole grips to remove the dowells, clean up the block and offer up the gasket, then tap the dowells through the gasket to hold it neatly in place, ready for the head.

BTW you -can- skim the heads, contrary to the manual - I always do, making absolutely certain they're not warped first.

Ref the rocker and timing cover gaskets.... there's nothing "wrong" with using the gaskets, but they're annoying to fit (esp the timing cover) and are a pain to make them seal properly. I hope for your sake you don't learn this the same way I did!

Funnily enough, the LeMans I'm working on at the moment, last worked on by PJ Autos, has its rocker covers fitted with silicone.

BTW you -can- skim the heads, contrary to the manual - I always do, making absolutely certain they're not warped first.

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Well that depends how far, otherwise the timing cover bolts do not line up and have to be opened up, and top of the cover needs skimming as the rocker covers sit over the top of the timing cover, and also the dizzy drive is off centre in its oil seal too and leaks oil into the distributor cap.

A couple of thou - just enough to make it perfectly flat. If it needs more, then it's warped and needs to be straightened or replaced.

quote.............BTW you -can- skim the heads, contrary to the manual - I always do, making absolutely certain they're not warped first. (spunky monkey!)

you-can-also-piss-on-your-car-to-wash-it, contrary to the manual

quote.............BTW you -can- skim the heads, contrary to the manual - I always do, making absolutely certain they're not warped first. (spunky monkey!)

you-can-also-piss-on-your-car-to-wash-it, contrary to the manual

you-can-also-piss-on-your-car-to-wash-it, contrary to the manual

Do whatever makes you happy. Having a HG fail again after building an engine because I -didn't- skim the heads didn't make me happy

you-can-also-piss-on-your-car-to-wash-it, contrary to the manual

Do whatever makes you happy. Having a HG fail again after building an engine because I -didn't- skim the heads didn't make me happy

Silly boy Fancy doing that
I didn't do my last ones as they'd been done only 4k before but now I'm wondering ..................

I've got me spare heads being skimmed at the minute ,when they come back I'll be pissing on them before I fit them this time ...................

I've got me spare heads being skimmed at the minute ,when they come back I'll be pissing on them before I fit them this time ...................

This was a build I did a while ago where a known good pair of heads came off one engine, having been on there for about 3000 miles, skimmed and completely refurbed with new valves etc before those 3000 miles.

They then went on to a different, known good, block. The HG failed after about 100 miles, and my engine workshop blokie said simply that you can't rely on a head off one engine (even if it was fine) sealing properly on another block because of the way they interact with one another on warmup/cool-down.

I don't have an opinion on whether this is true or not but my blokie's reputation is excellent and after skimming and refitting them, the problem went away.

Sounds reasonable ................Mine had done 1k since the rebuild ,I would have expected it to go bang before then if it was down to a build issue .
It's always good to get that there professionals opinion though ,trade secrets and that . That must be why there's a double zip on overalls so they can get the old fella out .Must be what's called a piss-fit .

..and maybe use not as cheap head gaskets..

my engine workshop blokie said simply that you can't rely on a head off one engine (even if it was fine) sealing properly on another block because of the way they interact with one another on warmup/cool-down.

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Thats obvious, and even more so on a wet liner setup as two engines might have been setup with different protrusions, and thus put different stresses on the heads.