Solid copper head gaskets

[Colin Reed]

Hi Ian
I Have two copper gaskets that Marcus Altered for me.
just wondering were the weakness was in original ones.
modifications to my two are no WATER JACKET HOLES AND 60mm bore 
Cheers Colin

[squeak]

Ian I will be interested in what Marcus has to say, if we are to proceed put me down for 2. I had not thought bore size to be relevant as off the shelf seems to be 1 size fits all but for the record I believe my engine will be +20 with standard valves. regards Russell

[Ian Williams]

The weakness is probably of no great consideration for you Colin as it was related to waterway holes and insufficient material between bore 2 and 3. If you have dry decked your engine this really is the best answer with solid gaskets in my opinion.

[Marcus Ling]

Gentlemen,

Yes I did get some solid copper head gaskets cut a few years ago. There are a couple of things that I changed on the drawing as a result of that exercise.

In the attached photo you can see that I have allowed more material in the area at the side of combustion chambers and also the holes with the red arrows have been reduced in size.

Attached is a print of the drawing as it currently is, this was drawn off the High Compression gasket, however I also did a drawing for the Low Compression gasket.

The gaskets that I had cut for Colin have no water holes as he is building a dry decked engine as Ian pointed out so there are no water holes at all in his gasket.

The point about solid copper gaskets is that they need to be annealed before fitting, and also on the A7 engine with the small diameter head studs there is a limit to what torque you can achieve on the head studs.

Cheers

Marcus

   

   

[squeak]

Marcus may I order a couple of the mark 2 version if you do decide to run a batch, thanks  Russell

[Colin Reed]

Hi All,
This is not a problem just for solid copper gaskets,
It is all down to corrosion of the block and head regardless  of them being cast iron or alloy
One way to correct is drill water jacket holes untill out to (CLEAN) material then plug with ether cast iron or alloy and weld in place Redrill holes to correct size then surface grind .
some will say this will be expensive but in the scheme of things not really you only have to look at the number of water leak problems that turn up on this site 

Thats just my way of doing it
Regards Colin NZ

[Chris KC]

Hi All,
This is not a problem just for solid copper gaskets,
It is all down to corrosion of the block and head regardless  of them being cast iron or alloy
One way to correct is drill water jacket holes untill out to (CLEAN) material then plug with ether cast iron or alloy and weld in place Redrill holes to correct size then surface grind .
some will say this will be expensive but in the scheme of things not really you only have to look at the number of water leak problems that turn up on this site 

Thats just my way of doing it
Regards Colin NZ

I took a similar approach on the HC head which is currently on my Ulster, but the holes were bored on a milling machine i.e. with a positive seat, & rings (I seem to recall they were cast iron, salvaged from old valve guides) were pressed in with an interference fit and a bit of Loctite for luck. This obviates the need to weld anything. But yes, the head will then bend like a banana & needs a skim to true everything up.

[Marcus Ling]

Hi Russell,

I will let you know how we get on.

Cheers

Marcus

[dickie65]

The solid copper gaskets were made for Ulster and Nippy heads which have a different shaped head mating surface.
the normal high and low compression gaskets have a different shape again.
There are there different shaped gaskets dependant on your head shape.
The PAYEN Head gasket I have is correct for the Nippy and Ulster heads.
I would need to get my gasket scanned to make a file suitable for my local company to cut a few for me.

[Paul N-M]

This is the solution I applied to making a gasket that suited a heavily overbored block for racing. No std. gasket would clear the bores. The s/s lattice ensures nip to keep the combustion pressures in and works very well. No head gasket failures with std. head studs to std. torque. Just about to build a dry deck engine and will use the same concept.