head gasket sealer opinions???

thanks, david

Thanks

I clean the head, block, and hang my new head gasket from a wire so I can get to both sides.

I take regular aluminum paint and paint the head gasket, then paint the block and head mating surfaces.

Just as the paint starts to get tacky to the touch I put one more coat on the head gasket.

Now when it starts to get tacky to the touch again I put the gasket on and install the head.

Torque to normal pressure and let set over night. Next morning I rerun the head bolt torque and fire it up.

Don't worry about what little paint gets into the water and oil galleys just be sure and don't over do it into them.

The aluminum paint does better than sealers about taking the imperfections out of the mating surfaces and the sleeve.

It works good on sleeve o-rings too, but unless the block is pitted from corrosion I just clean the block and install the o-rings with a little chassis grease on the o-rings.

thanks, david

The old man that taught me did it that way and it's always worked good for me to do it that way. w/40+ years.

The only head gaskets I ever had trouble with was the one engine I did'nt retorque. It was a 7.3 Ford diesel pickup.

david

I forgot to tell the rest of the retorque I do.

When I initialy crank the engine I check for oil/water/fuel leaks and run the engine temp up to 195 to 200 degrees by covering the radiator with cardboard then shut the engine off.

To retorque the head bolts I loosen them 1/4 to 1/3 turn and then re-torque them.

I set the valve clearance while the engine is still hot.

thanks,david