Head Gaskets again

[Maystro]

Hi Guys,

Having a great run here,  just got my new head on and car going great when I was about to properly time her in with a strobe and I noticed oil seeping out between the head and the block.  Also there were bubbles of air in the coolant when I revved the engine with the radiator cap off. 

It's a fully recond head so should be true and the block was fine before I got the head recond. 

I can't remember what head gasket I used but it may have just been one of those cheap copper ones from Minisport that come in a kit with other gaskets.

What do you guys recommend for a 998 bored 40 though with a big cam and a stage 3 ported 12g202 head?

Thanks Brad

[Terry]

Hi,

have you taken the head off to see if the Head gasket is to blame?

What process did you go through the fit the gasket and tighten the head down and have you re-torqued the head?

I know people that swear by the copper gaskets and I have run them at times and it is usually not the fault of the gasket or it takes a lot of km's before they eventually fail.

Terry

[Maystro]

Hi Terry,

I torqued the head down as per the manual starting in the middle and working my way out.  I ended up torquing down to 50lbs because that is what I did last time. 

I do have two concerns though.  I wasn't sure about when to torque down the rocker assembly.  So I did this last after torqing down the head and I only went to 25lbs. 
My other concern is whether I put the head gasket in upside down.  Their were no markings to say top and front.  This leads me to believe it was some inferior gasket if it didn't even have markings on it.

Brad

[Maystro]

Hi guy's

Ive blown my head gasket after getting 1 day out of putting a recond head on.  I thought the problem might of been I put it on upside down since it didn't have any markings to say front and top.  So I ordered the best gasket I could get for a 998 which are very limited.  Most are sold out. 
So I ended up having to get a copper one from Mini spares in England, not really the one I wanted because the one I wanted was sold out as well.
Then I read somewhere A and A+ engines have different head gaskets.  Well there are no good quality A+ head gaskets on the planet Earth.

Is this correct A and A+ engines require different head gaskets? 

Also to throw a spanner in the works, my recond head is a 12G202 which is a Cooper head which isn't a A+. 

Damn I wish I had written down which old head gasket I had before I decided to take my head off for reconditioning. 

Thanks Brad.

[Halfpint]

Hi Brad,
The 12G202 head is an 1100 head.
I have always been under the impression that there is 2 head gaskets, small bore (998 and 1100) and large bore (1275).
Not going to go into differences between A and A+ engines here, but I doubt the head gasket is one of them.
HP

[Drakman]

Hi Brad,

Where did the gasket blow, between cylinders or into a water jacket?  I assume the head was surfaced when it was reco'd.   Is the block flat, run the edge of a steel ruler across the x and y axis and see what feeler gauges you can get under it.

Try giving Minisport in SA a call and ask what head gasket they use for racing, they will have one made out of some super unobtainable material that you need a hazmat suit just to be in the same room with but they should also be able to recommend the next best thing.

Cheers

[Maystro]

Hi Brad,
The 12G202 head is an 1100 head.
I have always been under the impression that there is 2 head gaskets, small bore (998 and 1100) and large bore (1275).
Not going to go into differences between A and A+ engines here, but I doubt the head gasket is one of them.
HP

That's what I also thought HP.  My last head gasket was not specific to A or A+ and I got about 7 years out of it with the same A+ block and 12G202 head.

I was reading the Minispares UK website where I had already purchased my new head gasket and then noticed they had the new gasket as pre A+  but they say it is suited for cooper 997 which is a 12g202 head which I have.   Ahhhhh I need to stop reading. 

I just hope it gets here next week when I have a week off to start again. 

Riding my bike to work in these chilly North QLD mornings is not nice.  I'm serious it's been in the  single figures lately....and some people asked me why I retained the heater in the Moke?

Brad

[Maystro]

I have to work out to quote people...sorry HP?

[Steam]

I do not know about small bore engines but in 1275 it makes no difference A to A+. I have an A+ head on my A 1275. The gasket I used was a AP something I think. My guru engine machinist mate recommended it. I will endeavor to find out exactly in the next day or so.

[Terry]

Hi,

I don't think getting the best head gasket you can find is really dealing with the problem because even the worst head gasket you can fit is still going to last more than 24 hours.

One issue that gets a mention around new head gaskets is that you should not have coolant in the water when you first run the engine as the properties of the coolant can interfere with the sealing properties of the gasket. I believe the general wisdom is to only put the coolant in after the first 100km or so.

Do you have the head off and have you inspected it to find out the cause of the leak.

Terry

[Maystro]

Thanks guy's,

I was waiting till I had a new gasket to go in before I removed the head, that's why I cannot report on the state  of the existing gasket.  I thought it would protect the face of the block and head not being exposed to the elements. 

Terry I have never herd that about coolant being an issue in a new build, something else I'll have to note.  I like the idea because now that I have to drain out brand new oil and coolant, that would have halved the pain.

Brad.

[Maystro]

No one has questioned me about putting the head gasket upside down.
Would this make any difference?

Brad

[Terry]

Hi,

until you remove the head you can't check for the cause like whether you fitted the gasket upside down or not.

Catch the coolant in a big tub and then decanter into a bottle or two and poor it back in when the time comes.

Terry

[moemoke]

What symptoms do you have for you to think it’s a head gasket?
If the head is flat and the block is flat then there is something amiss for a
head gasket to only last 1 day.

[Maystro]

Hi Moe

I have oil seeping out between the head and block and air bubbles in the radiator.  It is also breaking down when I rev it.

Thanks Brad