Homemade gaskets?

I have some nice gasket material sheets (an Amgauge product) and I'm thinking of making my own valve cover and base gaskets for my 750-4. Has anyone here ever done this, and what temps does the base gasket (between the case and block) run at? Thanks!

I made a base gasket after the new Athena base gasket failed and I had to tear the engine down again after I just rebuilt it. I used the stuff from Auto Zone which is vulcanized paper .032" thick, I think it said "8904" on the back. I looked it up and I think it was good for temps up to about 350 degrees. It has worked really well for the base and cover. I would think that the base could get up to temps of 275 or higher worst case. Be careful on base gasket material becaus it takes the full force of the head bolts torque (about 30 ft-lbs) so the material has to be crush resistant to that pressure.

Well, this is just the dark grey non-abestos non-vulcanized gasket paper, and I don't know if it is crush-proof, so I'll look for the stuff you mentioned.

How did you go about laying out the pattern on the paper? Since the bores extend a bit past the bottom of the head, it seems like it would be a little difficult to trace around the bottom of the head? Or did you trace out the top of the case?

polkat wrote:

Well, this is just the dark grey non-abestos non-vulcanized gasket paper, and I don't know if it is crush-proof, so I'll look for the stuff you mentioned.

How did you go about laying out the pattern on the paper? Since the bores extend a bit past the bottom of the head, it seems like it would be a little difficult to trace around the bottom of the head? Or did you trace out the top of the case?

I was lucky and had a very old spare base gasket to use for tracing. I think it would be a bugger to try to trace it from the parts. Some of the guys here used to have photo copies of some of the gaskets for the twins.

The easiest way to make home-made gaskets is to put the gasket material on the surface (making sure it won't move) and using the round head of a small ball pean hammer, gently tap around the metal edge. This will either cut the gasket or give you a real line to cut to with scissors or a razor knife. This is an old method but works great, believe me!

Regarding base and head gaskets... no way on the home made for too much to go wrong. Not sure how one could make a head gasket due to compression rings around cylinder bores. Not that you stated that mind you...

Base gasket example: Compresses too much and this decreases your piston to chamber clearance... Piston hits valve and you have FUBAR! Or if it leaks have to take head and cylinder off again... Naw, why go there...

Head gaskets alone are $50 and with the metal compression rings, pretty much a one time install.... I know I know, others will chime in you can re-use them...

Now for valve cover or other engine gaskets, other than possible leaks, oil all over the engine and oil pressure loss your call...

I'll just pay the $10-$20 for a gasket and be done with it....

Just my worthless 2 cents.... Besides, 3 am in the morning and I have nothing better to do.... :blush: :laugh:

Visayanrider wrote:

The easiest way to make home-made gaskets is to put the gasket material on the surface (making sure it won't move) and using the round head of a small ball pean hammer, gently tap around the metal edge. This will either cut the gasket or give you a real line to cut to with scissors or a razor knife. This is an old method but works great, believe me!

This method when perfected will make a perfect gasket. An old drag racer showed me this one time when he witnessed the way I was doing it. I was totally impressed at how perfect it came out. The hardest part on a large gasket was keeping it from moving. The round ball on the handle of a craftsman screwdriver works perfect and will not damage the metal edges. Give it a try on a small gasket so you can figure out how to do it.

I had thought about the compression when considering making the base gasket. Then I looked at a piece of the original, and it appears to be just thin paper. I suspect that a replacement made from similar material should work okay?

A replacement just made from "some" similar material...

NO.

Proper OEM, NOS, or quality aftermarket Head Gasket.

Yamabond #4 for Base Gasket. Yamaha PN# ACCYAMABND04

Permatex #2 Gas/oil resistant RTV for everything else.

Good luck

The stuff I found at Auto Zone labeled N8094 has this spec:

www.sealinfo.com/index.cfm?objectid=E646...8AD-C5975764F17117D5

N-8094 is a low density material that conforms well to irregular flange surfaces and has very good crush resistance at high flange pressures. It is intended for sealing oils, fuels, and water in applications with short duration maximum temperatures up to 180oC (350oF).

Kawickrice wrote:

Visayanrider wrote:

The easiest way to make home-made gaskets is to put the gasket material on the surface (making sure it won't move) and using the round head of a small ball pean hammer, gently tap around the metal edge. This will either cut the gasket or give you a real line to cut to with scissors or a razor knife. This is an old method but works great, believe me!

This method when perfected will make a perfect gasket. An old drag racer showed me this one time when he witnessed the way I was doing it. I was totally impressed at how perfect it came out. The hardest part on a large gasket was keeping it from moving. The round ball on the handle of a craftsman screwdriver works perfect and will not damage the metal edges. Give it a try on a small gasket so you can figure out how to do it.

old school, but it definitely works.....i saw it done 25 years ago......

Well, this is the base gasket we are talking about. It seals between the bottom of the block, where the cylinder sleeves are sticking out about 1-1/2", and the top of the case, where the long head bolts are sticking out. So tracing it from the parts is pretty much impossible!

What I thought of doing was to trace out the bottom of the sleeves first, cut them out, stick on the gasket material over the sleeves, and then trace out the rest from that. Anyone see a problem?

The N8094 material suggested looks fine.