Cylinder head gasket

[gordon stephenson]

For a long time the two most common gasket/joint sealants were Hermetite(green) and Stag (red), I was never too keen on green hermetite, it sets as hard as a rock, and I don;t think it would be much use in an application that is constantly cycling in quite high and low temperatures,

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

The red stuff is now called hylotite. The red stuff is thicker out the tube and sets sort of rubbery.

 

[MattF]

The red stuff is now called hylotite. The red stuff is thicker out the tube and sets sort of rubbery.

It turns to crap after a year or two. Not a fan of the Hermetite red.

 

[brightspark]

It turns to crap after a year or two. Not a fan of the Hermetite red.

god red hug metight is crap the golden is decent and hylomar

 

[Welderpaul]

So 7 years on i'm in the garage questioning the 1960's manual I have and googling if you need to use sealing compound on a cylinder head or not........and this thread pops up.
I'm in the process of, err, revisiting my previous engine rebuild efforts, but this time ably assisted by @KimB

So for anyone else googling this, the official answer is....don't use anything. For a Dexta Perkins 3 cylinder anyway.

The 1960's manual tells you to use a jointing compound, but by the time you get to the 1980's manual, its not needed. Looks like this is down to the more modern gaskets not needing any sort of additional sealing.

So there we go.

1980's manual

1960's manual

 

[doubleboost]

Simple bearing grease good enough for Cosworth BD engines with copper asbestos gaskets
Be fine for a tractor
As has been mentioned countersink the bolt / stud holes
If you want to use a sealer "well seal"is a good non setting compound

 

[brightspark]

just done the head gasket on my perky 3 cylinder engine last year . just a thin smear of grease used

 

[Pete.]

I would use Permatex ultra copper spray. It's specifically designed for head gaskets and because you spray it on it goes on like a layer of paint and seals very well indeed. I've also used it on turbo flanges and it's also what I always use for vertically-split engine cases.

https://www.permatex.com/products/g...rmatex-copper-spray-a-gasket-hi-temp-sealant/

 

[SierraV6]

This is an interesting thread. I work on all sorts from 1940’s Gardner diesels to modern Ford petrol engines. Modern stuff doesn’t need additional sealants/compounds unless explicitly stated, but on old Gardner engines I use Wellseal and Hylomar. They mostly still leak like sieves though....

I hadn’t come across the Permatex spray @Pete. so thanks, I’ll check that out.

 

[500e]

Spray Hilomar

 

[graffian]

I always sprayed the copper head gaskets I used on Chrysler motors, they leaked from waterways if I didn't.
I used an silver aerosol we had for painting christmas decorations!