Hi,
The head gasket can be installed incorrectly, but generally (I just looked
at several early and late head gaskets), they'll still fit. The older "good
ones" had a marking "this side up". The new ones that you get don't seem to
have that marking anymore. I've used quite a few of these gaskets of late.
Don't ask why.
There's not too much to screw up installing that head gasket. I'm pretty
sure the "oil hole" is the only thing that might not line up... nevermind,
I just checked all the gaskets that I have are "symmetrical" and even the
oil hole lines up.
If your car is running that hot (you mention "in the red"), you should
check the actual temperature of the coolant when this reading is achieved.
It could be that your gauge is faulty.
You didn't say that the car boiled over... is it boiling over? If so, then
you probably have a cooling system problem as opposed to an internal engine
problem.
By way of example, one year, I ran my car with severely retarded timing...
something about setting the timing light correctly. Anyway, my car ran
marginally warmer, but it never overheated and never boiled over.
If you have blockage in the cooling system, then you could get "hot spots",
but again, generally this type of failure leads to boil-over. I seem to
recall that you had "flushed" your cooling system in one of your previous
posts. Did you drain the coolant and flushing compound completely from the
system?? You do know about the drain in the block that is located just
above the starter??? I have flushed TR6's in the past and lots of "cruft"
came out of that hole when I drained things... just something to look for.
Other than that, I'd say I need more info to diagnose your problem.
Oh, did you both replace the thermostat and "burp" the system?? I've had
cooling system problems on cars that wound up with air in the coolant
because I didn't "burp" the system after a drain/refill. Just another thing
to consider.
Later,
rml
=====================================================================
Bob Lang | TR 6 Guy | Editor: New England Triumphs
Phone: | 617-253-7438 (days)| 781-438-2568 (eves)
Occupation: | ComputerZ | TR fixer-Upper
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