Restoration Rant

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Phil,
Nice to see another dinosaur out there. Neat idea with scanner, if I ever get that far advanced electronically I will be giving that one a shot.
Gordon,
you have described the only correct use for the stuff (is that the sound of guns being loaded), as with a lot of products they are excellent for what they are designed for, and sealing glass like that would be it. The problem is that it is not a cure all for everything that leaks, saw it used on a fuel line (Petrol) once, they do not mix at all well.
If a quick fix is a must, there are several reputable brands of liquid gasket products that are at least designed for this enviroment.

Just don't ask me about my other pet hate, Adjustable Spanners (Shifter's over here) otherwise we'll be here all night....
Chip removed from shoulder
Rich

[Mike K]

I use permatex No. 3 ...you get quite fast at hole punching after a while . I once saw a VW beetle with silastic repair in the fuel tank.. the owner had stripped down the caby 3-4 times , but small bits of the stuff kept on clogging the carby up.

The neighbour here uses liquid nails, the builders adhesive , for many applications..he restores X series Falcons from XK to XF . He's a bush mechanic, but very clever too.

BTW does anyone know where to buy sheets of the special diaphram rubber used in carburettors ... Like Phil, I print out the shape and use it as a template . They ask silly prices ( $20 ) for a 5 cent bit of rubber , and I'd like to make my own. eg, the Land Rover Solex carby has 2 of them

Mike

[hrpearce]

Why print, cut and punch gaskets when all you have to do is place a piece of gasket paper oer the part tap around the edges with a small ball pein hammr and tap the holes with the ball end. I've cut gskets as small as the bowl on a zeneth up draft carby on a Jap motor sucksfully this way.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I've tried numerous gasket silicones and one brand The Right Stuff is way better than any others I've used. It's black and expensive and comes in a caulking type tube. You have to be careful with how much you use but oil leaks just don't happen.
I've taken engines apart where somebody went overboard with RV sealant and the oil pump pickup was half plugged with the stuff.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

Gordon,
you have described the only correct use for the stuff..
Rich

Rich, as a Champ and Humber enthusiast, you will be familiar with Rolls-Royce's use of Hylomar, RR's catchphrase being that their engines were so finely made that most gaskets were redundant (note that Hylomar's proper use is the coating of gaskets, not the replacement of them).

As Alex has mentioned, trying to find good quality gasket material is difficult. Although living in a mining and industrial area well blessed with industrial and bearing suppliers, asking for gasket paper is met with a blank look and a sweep of the hand towards the Loctite or Permatex stand in the shop. Shops that do carry it tend to be Super Cheap Auto, and the stuff is so tightly rolled it seems to be made from Shirley Temple's hair clippings.

[Keith Webb]

There are some old-timers at our local AutoPro shop who are very helpful. I asked one of them about gasket paper after a bit of reminiscing, chin scratching went past all the shelves of cheap junk made in China and produced a tightly curled (as Tony said) piece of thick gasket paper I've yet to find a use for. It would certainly not fit through a printer! At least those older guys knew what you were talking about.

Was Hylomar like the stuff we still have here made from some sort of resin like pine sap? Euan has a story about his father having it drip into his hair as he worked on the Jeep many years ago. The only solution was a close shave. That stuff sticks like sh1t to a blanket.

Bring back W.L. Ryan and restore Elizabeth St Melbourne to the way it was in the 1970s! In those days you not only had Ryans, but Repco (when it used to be reasonably good) Vanguards, run by a couple of ancient eccentrics, and even the Ring Gear Company which you could watch through the door as they oil hardened the gears. There's my rant. Plenty more to come in the future!

[Phil Waterman]

Trying to buy sheet gasket material at auto parts store here in the States is an exercise in futility, what they have is often ruined before you get it having been rolled so tightly that it is creased. Try and industrial gasket and seal house you may have better luck.

But as a substitute try a print shop, I took a couple of samples of the thicknesses I needed to a custom printing shop and ask the guy if he had any high rag content paper in those thickness. He came back with a carton about 24x36 with all sorts of different high grade printing paper. Asked him what he wanted and he said its all left over he was going to end up throwing away and gave it to me. I accepted with many thanks.

I've used it to make gaskets for the axle covers on the 3 tons, transfer cases. I cut the gaskets out then spray the with the red Pemitex Spray Gasket Cement. Only problem I've had is you can not use the Permitex Spray on fuel system gaskets, the ethanol in the gas now dissolves the Permitex you can see the red steaks running down the side of the carb.

Cheers Phil

[Mike Timoshyk]

Just a quick note from my Stoker days in the navy, we used Red Lead paint as a sealant especially on face to face items such as turbine casings and of course in a pinch good 'ol "Dog Shit"...which I might add can be used under the most unusual circumstances. Most commonly used to adhear thermometers to pillar blocks and bearing housings.

cheers

Mike Timoshyk