Posted tagged ‘Gaskets-to-Go Custom Gaskets’

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Bamford model Z4 Diesel engine

December 1, 2010

Bamford was a British manufacture of small industrial and farm engines, among other things, dating back to the 1870s. I am not sure if they are still around, but believe they may be but trading under a different name.

A customer who has used our services before sent a scan of a head gasket for one of Bamford’s model Z4 diesel engines from the 1930s. He liked our price and decided to order four of them. Because the head gasket was too large to fit entirely within a scanner frame the customer split it in two, and with the aid of some supplementary dimensions we were able to reconstruct that and create a pattern. Upon receiving the gaskets this is what the customer had to say:

The gasket looks great as I expected it would.
Pleasure to again be able to do business with you.

I will paste an image of the scan used to make a pattern, followed by an image of one of the gaskets we made, and a picture of a Z4 engine:

Gasket Scan

Reproduction, with steel fire ring and copper bushed water passages

Bamford Model Z4

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Categories: Farm Engines, Industrial Engines, Small Engine Gaskets
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1943 BMW R-75

April 25, 2010

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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Categories: Motorcycles
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A.E.C. 4 85 H.P. Diesel Head Gasket 1934-42

April 25, 2010

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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Categories: Buses, Trucks
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MLS Gasket for USDM 1994 Honda Accord LX

March 4, 2010

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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Categories: Automobiles
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Exhaust Gaskets with Steel Fire Ring

March 4, 2010

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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Categories: Automobiles
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Curved Dash Oldsmobile

December 23, 2009

It is hard to believe but the Oldsmobile is no longer with us. My first car was a rusty $100 1960 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88. Didn’t last too much longer after I bought it, but I went on to have good experiences with a second hand 1979 Olds Cutlass and a 1984 88.

I mention Olds because we recently had the honor of making a batch of copper head and valve cover gaskets for the very first car mass-produced in any quantity, the Curved Dash Olds, produced from 1901 to 1907.

There were only about 20,000 of these made, but something like 1,000 are still around, and the CDO Club sent a drawing of the valve cover gasket and a scan with dimensions for the head gasket in order to order enough of these gaskets to keep these machines running.

Here are the finished gaskets:

CDO Valve Cover Gaskets

CDO Head Gasket

If you need gaskets for your Curved Dash Olds, please contact Gary Hoonsbeen at the CDO Club.

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Categories: Automobiles
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Air Compressor Gaskets

December 20, 2009

I always like it when customers send me images of the machines our gaskets will be used with. This customer sent me a nice ad for a 1920s air compressor. Turns out the company is still in business all these years later.

The customer needed a set of gaskets, and specified a material  .003 in. thick. Our sizes here are metric, so I recommended a 0.8mm material from Interface Solutions known as NI2085 as we had previously had good results with customers requiring similar compressor gaskets. The customer sent drawing files which we were able to work from.

Here are the finished gaskets. Because this was a one-off order these were hand cut, but you would be hard put to tell that. Here is what the customer had to say, followed by an image of the gasket set:

“The gaskets arrived yesterday morning. They were well packed and arrived without damage. I was concerned they would not be very accurate because they were hand cut, but when I compared them with the templates they were perfect, and by perfect I mean not even a fraction of a mm off.”

I should note here that we usually  hand cut in cases of one-off gaskets like these, but for orders over 30 items or so we use steel rule dies.


If you need a set of gaskets for a Quincy Silent Air-Master we have the patterns here, so let us know.

UPDATE: The customer sent me an image of the restored compressor:

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Categories: Air Compressor
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Alfa Romeo Montreal MLS Gaskets

December 18, 2009

Multi-layer steel gaskets, known as MLS gaskets, are made of 3 or more layers of spring steel, with the outer layers embossed in critical areas for improved sealing. The outer layers are also coated with viton, silicone, or other proprietary solutions for better sealing as well. This type of head gasket is used for high-performance applications that normal head gaskets can’t withstand. Although it may seem hard to believe, in a high performance engine the head actually lifts off the block hundreds if not thousands of time per minute. The outward tension provided by the steel layers help maintain a seal when this happens. MLS gaskets need to be installed on very smooth surfaces, 50RA or better, and go on dry. They should not be used with receiver rings.

MLS gaskets are currently available off-the-shelve from many suppliers, but they are not available for every car engine. As far as I am aware, Gaskets-to-Go is the only manfacturer able to custom manufacture MLS gaskets in quantities as low as one-off. Most suppliers require large (50+) orders or expensive upfront tooling charges. They are not cheap, but they are often the only solution. Please feel free to contact me via http://www.gasketstogo.com if you are interested in this type of gasket.

I will post an image of an Alfa Romeo Montreal, which I think you will agree is a fine looking automobile. This customer had completed some engine mods and wanted and MLS gasket.

Alfa Romeo Montreal

We used his old gaskets to create the pair below.

If you own a Montreal and need some MLS gaskets please contact me via http://www.gasketstogo.com

Please visit www.gasketstogo.com

Categories: Automobiles
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