I had one bad experience with Coppercote as a head gasket sealant. Since
the early 80's I have used a product called Gaskacinch for sealing metal
head gaskets for my TR-4 race car (in fact I use it on all head gaskets, as
well). Always worked fine. Only problem is, the stuff is not available
where I am now living. About 7 or 8 years ago while rebuilding an engine
for the race car, I realized that I was all out of Gaskacinch, so I asked
the local parts supplier what he recommended for sealing steel head
gaskets. He recommended Coppercote.
I applied the Coppercote to all surfaces (same as I had always done with
Gaskacinch) and installed the cylinder head, torqueing the head nuts to 105
ft. lbs. When I filled the engine with coolant, the coolant ran out
between the head and the block, and down the side of the engine. It
appeared to me that copper particles in the Coppercote had dried before I
was able to get the head properly installed. In fact, when I torqued the
head, I could hear a crunching sound, as if there were particles of dirt
between the head, block and gasket mating surfaces. I believe these dried
copper particles kept the head and block from pulling up tight to the gasket.
I removed the head, cleaned the gasket, head and block and reinstalled with
Gaskacinch, and it sealed just fine. In fact, in 24 years of racing the
TR-4, this was the only time I had a problem with a head gasket sealing
(except for one time when I used a liner that was too short - I guess it
really is important to check liner protrusion!)
At 10:32 PM 7/16/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Is there anyone else out there who thinks coppercote doesn't work? I have
>good luck with a light coating of oil and nothing else on head gaskets (and
>most other gaskets for that matter).
>
>I don't see how that block could work with .0025" taper in the span of 80
>some-odd mm. That means the full taper edge to edge of the block is probably
>something like .004" or more. Seems like you could get the liners to seal
>okay, but the gasket would get very hot in areas where the contact with the
>head was light (no heat transfer) and you'd likely have water jacket
>leakage.
>
>There's a lot of junk gaskets around for vintage brit cars. It doesn't seem
>like a part that would be so hard to get right. When I buy and aftermarket
>gasket set for an american or newer import I'm always envious of the quality
>of even the least expensive sets.
>
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