exhaust install, whats the trick?

the stock kawasaki type crush gaskets are basically just crimped from sheet copper and hard to reuse.the aftermarket gaskets which are more like a crush washer can be hated up and tossed in a bucket of water to aneal them.i spray mine down with copper boat before installing them to help them stick to the head i also wrap rubber bands around the split collars to keep them from falling off while installing header.

PLUMMEN wrote:

... wrap rubber bands around the split collars to keep them from falling off while installing header.

Smells like ... Victory!

Rubber band, good idea, these little split collar can overlap real easy watch the little buggers

rubber bands or plain masking tape.

that has to be a hell of a tick since that pipe looks like it's run wide open.

looks good though.

PLUMMEN wrote:

the stock kawasaki type crush gaskets are basically just crimped from sheet copper.

So would it be possible to just go to the hardware store and pick up some copper washers with the same dimmensions and use them? If its just a copper washer I would think you could.

Those exhaust gaskets aren't just copper washers.
They're basically formed FROM a wide copper washer (think fender washer size), and are rolled/folded over to create a hollow chamber which will flare out and seal the header pipes when the exhaust nuts are tightened onto the exhaust studs.

IIRC, Mark Wing said that older VW copper exhaust header gaskets are the same/nearly the same dimensions, and are a heck of a lot cheaper (about $1 each?) than the Kawi OEM gaskets.

just ordered the gaskets from Z1. thanks for all the trade secrets guys. this site is an awesome tool for us do-it-yourselfers! Thanks for sharing yall's insight. will let you know how it turns out in a couple of days!

finished last night! worked great with all the advise I got. used car wax to hold and rubber bands. thanks again guys.