I imagine that this customer came to me because BMW understandably no longer carries spare parts for this model. He sent me ID and OD figures for a copper crush washer to be used on the exhaust and after seeing the quotation placed an order for four of them. I will insert an image of one of these magnificent machines, copied by the Russians and the Chinese, and I believe still manufactured in China.
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A.E.C. (Associated Equipment Company) was a renowned U.K. manufacturer of buses and lorries (trucks) that is no longer with us, having thrown in the towel in 1979. This engine was used in a variety of different models during the 1930s and 40s, such as the one below.
For purposes of obtaining a quotation this customer sent some images of the old gasket with L x W and thickness dimensions. Because the old gasket was so mangled he also sent a page from an old Payen (UK) gasket catalog.
A peculiar feature of this gasket were restricter plates that were riveted into a dimond shaped cuotout and featured a bushed hole. I will paste a close up image of one of those below:
The customer was happy with the quotation, so we went ahead and produced two of these for him. Because the old gasket was in such poor condition he also sent a paper tracing of the block so that we could locate bolts holes, etc. accurately.
After receiving the gaskets the customer sent this message, which I was quite happy to receive!
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The larger multi-layer steel (MLS) head gasket manufacturers stock MLS gaskets for many cars, trucks, and motorcycles, but if you own a less popular model or need a custom MLS gasket you might be out of luck. One of the most well known MLS gasket manufacturers requires a minimum tooling charge of $3000 to start plus the cost of gaskets, which usually mean a minimum order of at least 100 gaskets. If you are in that situation, Gaskets-to-Go is the place to go as we can manufacture this kind of gasket with no tooling or set-up charges and in quantities as low as one gasket. They are not cheap, but if you require a state-of-the-art gaskets that are generally bullet-proof if installed correctly, an MLS is the way to go.
In this case the customer is working on a modified Honda Accord LX engine and needed a different bore and thickness than the OEM MLS gasket. Still experimenting he ordered this gasket in 1.9mm, and will be testing it. He sent us his old gasket to use as a template. The customer is not sure if his calculations are correct, so he will be testing this one and then ordering another once he determines what he needs.
Gasket image submitted by customer for quotation
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Not too long ago we received a request for quotation containing a scan of an exhaust gasket. The customer said he was tired of burning out the stock exhaust gaskets and wanted something better. If you take a close look at the gasket you will see that it has burned right through on the left side. You can also see that the gasket has no fire or flame ring to protect the material from directed longitudinal contact with the hot exhaust gases. Given that the OEM gasket was of an obviously inferior design I suggested using an Armstrong material from Interface Solutions with a steel fire ring since a multi-layer steel (MLS) exhaust gasket would be more expensive and most likely more than was required in this application. The Armstrong material is a dimpled metal sandwich containing an inner layer of mineral fiber that can withstand high temps. Armstrong is the former name of Interface Solutions. Since the customer provided a 1:1 scan we were able to work from that to create new 1.8mm thick gaskets as pictured below.
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This customer needed a rubber gasket to seal an electronic box of some sort. Since the box was not exposed to chemicals, solvents, or sunlight he determined that natural rubber would be fine in this application. We were able to provide a quotation using a simple but sufficient drawing created by the customer. After receiving an order for 100 of each type we were able to use the drawing to create dies for die-cutting the gaskets. Images of the drawing and the finished product can be seen below. About a week after receiving these the customer wrote back to say, “The gaskets arrived today and they were perfect and I mean perfect. In a world where very few things are done properly these days they were certainly worth the wait…So thanks again for a job well done.”
The drawing furnished by the customer
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Earlier this month I wrote about Lister and Listeroid gaskets. Lister is an old English firm that manufactured a line of diesel engines that are popular around the world to this day, so popular that they continue to be manufactured in India by many different firms. These Indian copies are referred to as ‘Listeroids’ by the Lister engine communityto differentiate them from the genuine Lister engines. Many are identical or almost identical to the originals, but the cylinder head pattern is one important area of difference. Lister OEM pattern head gaskets will fit many Listeroids, but there will be redundant bolt holes and the water passages do not match up 100%.
From what I have been able to gather, the Indian manufacturers have a habit of leaving swarf in the castings and the engines must be cleaned up and rebuilt in order for them to last. They also come with very poor quality gaskets, which is why many Lister owners came to us for help. At our Lister gasket web site www.listergasketstogo.com we supply a head gasket for Lister and Listeroids that has been very well received by Lister owners, and we will be soon adding Listeroid patterns to our list of gaskets on the site. I will post a picture of one of these below along with the Lister pattern so you can see the difference. As always, we can customize both patterns with different bore sizes.
Listeroid 10/1 Head Gasket
Our Lister CS Series pattern available at www.listergaskets.com
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Stover was one of the larger American industrial engine manufacturers. If my research is correct they were in business from 1895 to 1942. Shutting down in 1942 seems curious, what with war-time production at capacity. I wonder why Stover wasn’t busy with government contracts to make engines or any other needed material? Perhaps a reader can enlighten us as to why that was the case?
The customer sent a scan for this gasket, and asked for copper sandwich construction. The backing grid indicated that it was not printing out at 1:1, so I foolishly adjusted it so that it would print out correctly. What I didn’t know was that the customer (without realizing it) had scanned it at less than full size, so the result was that I sent him a pile of gaskets that were the wrong size! We sorted that out, but just to be safe the customer sent the old gasket to us and we redid the batch. I have since revised the scanning instructions at www.gasketstogo.com/scans.htm to make things clearer.
Stover DV2
Finished gaskets along with used pattern gasket
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More than a few of our customers are looking for gaskets for Chinese and Japanese industrial engines. With the sheer number of different models and differences in domestic and export names it can be tough to find gaskets, particularly if they are no longer sold. This customer had a Komatsu Mini-Excavator with what he suspected might be a Yanmar engine. He sent a scan, and after receiving a quotation sent us the old pattern to work from. We created the gasket using a metal-mesh reinforced non-asbestos composite material from Interface Solutions, with steel fire rings and one water passage bushed in copper. I will insert images of the scan and one of the gaskets we made below:
The customer marked the hole to be bushed in copper with a circle. We marked the scan up in red text for our use.
And here is an image of one of the new gaskets. Note the copper bush in the lower left-hand corner of the gasket:
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Gaskets-to-Go has a very close relationship with a firm that can manufacture almost any kind of spring or fastener. For most springs we can supply your requirements in quantities of from one on up. To furnish you with a quote we need an image with dimensions or a drawing. The images below show only a small portion of the different types of springs and fasteners we can help you with. Currently we are producing a set of brake springs for an old American make and will be posting those here soon.
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This customer sent a scan of two exhaust gaskets and asked us to make replacements in the form of a multi-layer steel (MLS) gaskets. As the name implies, these are made of multiple layers of steel with a steel fire ring. In this case the fire ring we supplied was made from stainless steel. He wanted something a bit thicker than 2.0mm, so we proposed 2.4mm. I will paste images of the scan the customer sent and the MLS gaskets below:
Scan of original Armstrong style metal sandwich exhaust gaskets
Finished MLS Exhaust Gaskets with SS Fire Ring from Gaskets-to-Go
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