Gasket material

[Rustkolector]

I am in the process of regasketing an engine I made a few years ago. It has recently blown a head gasket. The material used was a neoprene-cork material from NAPA and was all I could find at the time. I was in a hurry. The model requires .015-.016"" material for proper assembly fit. The engine is usually run for 15 mnutes at a time, and is not a short time demo runner. What type of gasket material would be best for this engine?

Jeff

 

[GailInNM]

Jeff,
For relatively low performance engines, such as hit-n-miss, I use PTFE (Teflon). It is easy to cut and seals very well repeatedly after dis-assembly. It is available from many industrial suppliers such as MSC and McMaster. As I recall MSC is about half the price and about US$ 6 for half a square foot in the 0.015 range. Search for PTFE film. The sheet listings only go down to about a 1/32 inch.

For high performance engines, such as glow engines, I use copper sheet that is available at craft stores for copper tooling.

Since you were running with neoprene-cork the PTFE should work fine and be a big step up.

Gail in NM

 

[Blogwitch]

I can fully endorse what Gail says, I have used it for head gaskets on i/c and gaskets on hi temp and pressure on steam engines, never one leakage. I use a range of thicknesses, depending on where it will be used.

Only purchase the NON ETCHED virgin material, I got mine a while ago from Small Parts. Second or third from top of list, depending on size.

http://www.smallparts.com/small-par...p/B003SLF076/ref=sr_1_1?sr=1-1&qid=1316749545


John

 

[rudydubya]

Another concurrence on what Gail and John said. I got mine from Enco. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMK3?PMK0NO=1257244

Rudy

 

[Catminer]

Agree with the Teflon, also works well for ignitor, valve body and carb. gaskets also.
Something else I came up with lately is die cut layers of household aluminum foil, soft enough that is seals dry and thickness is adjusted by using more or less layers. Currently using in two farm style engines, one hit and miss and one throttled. Cannot say how this would work in higher speed engines but both of these have run at local shows for several days with no problems, seems to help transfer heat from the head better.

Peter

 

[Rustkolector]

Then Teflon it will be!!! Thanks guys.

Jeff

 

[rleete]

Just saw this post, late as usual. Where I work uses .010" teflon sheets to protect optical tooling surfaces. If it gets scratched or dirty, it is discarded. If you're in the US, I will gladly collect some of the larger and cleaner pieces for you, and mail them.

I did send some to other members, but haven't seen any posts on how it worked for them. Send me your snail mail address by PM, and I will get some out to you.