evo engine, head gasket leak

[SE6A]

Hi all, well eventually got around to the job, with the front cylinder head and barrel removed and currently cleaning up the surfaces.
head to barrel cleaned up well, however the base gasket, in a kind of hard black material is well and truly baked on, with a couple of small areas which were left on the crankcase area.
any hints and tips to remove this carefully, besides a stanley knife blade in a scraper mount?

could be the original gasket, almost as hard as metal!

 

[TQuentin1]

Yeah, that is an issue sometimes. I suggest getting an old towel or shop rag and saturating it with a penetrating oil like Kroil (Kano) or PB Blaster. Put the wet cloth around the crankcase hole over the spots that have the baked on paper. It may take a few cycles rewetting the cloth before you can scrape off the paper carefully with a putty knife or a razor blade. Just be careful not to mar the mating surface of the crankcase since it is aluminium. If you have similar patches on the bottom of the jug, that can just be scraped off with a razor knife or even a wire wheel on your electric drill or grinder. If you have a brass wire wheel even better.

Cheers,

TQ

 

[fin_676]

Like TQ said some penetrating fluid can help soften the old gasket I like to use paint thinners or white spirit and a good gasket scraper I also have a selection of brass brushes that I use lightly on stubborn stuff
But you will be there for a while, before you start ensure you stuff the hole with old towels or rags to stop debris from finding its way into the crank case

Brian

 

[Jack Klarich]

I have used this on stubborn gaskets, let it soak in good, reapply and use a plastic scraper

 

[SE6A]

cheers guys, I will try anything!.....its on the base of the barrel, hardly anything on the top of the crankcase, so maybe I can get an old bowl, and let it stand in some thinners for a day!

 

[TQuentin1]

If it is on the jug, then you can be pretty aggressive getting it off. The jugs are steel, so absent any ridiculous measures, you will not be doing any harm to the sealing surface of the jug. Just use a razor scrapper or wire wheel on an electric drill or grinder and clean it off.

Cheers,

TQ

 

[Jack Klarich]

Agree on
the barrels, you can apply the remover and brass wire wheel them or scrape them OR

These work with out marring the softer materials

 

[Jack Klarich]

This is 1 reason I like soft metal base and head gaskets on Evo powered bikes
They are also more forgiving to heat and less prone to leaks

 

[SE6A]

with a good day of soaking in white spirit, and a new 1 inch scraper, its finally coming off, slowly!

 

[HDDon]

Just think of how good it will feel when you know the job was done right!