Hi Y'all,
Here's another little issue that I want to put to rest once and for all: I am burning the exhaust gasket for the #1 cylinder on my '57 SDV. Not only does it make that embarrassing 'pop, pop, pop' sound when she is under load or accelerating, but the car runs hotter and I feel like I am losing power. I loosened the manifold yesterday, slid the old gaskets out and replaced them, and about 3 miles down the road, the engine started making that noise again. Today I plan to take the manifold completely off, inspect the mating face, and install the remaining set of new gaskets. I also plan to run a tap into the bolt holes and run the bolts through a die - if not replace them completely. I also may add a washer or two to the bolts for a bit more pressure to compress the gaskets because it looked like there was a little gap between the manifold and head. I am also unsure about the orientation of the gaskets, although I think that I have it right: the fiber side is against the head and the perforated metal side is against the manifold.
I am using the standard Fel-Pro gasket set - are there others that are more recommended?
Thanks in advance,
Dave Burke
CLC#27968
Well I tried the gaskets from fel-pro as well and still got leaks..
An old machinist told me to go get some high temp RTV (gray / silver I think?) and use that to bridge the gap. He also said he would machine the exhaust manifold and head so no gasket was needed except for the light coat of RTV.
Maybe others will weigh in but that worked for me a I was tired of the pop sound when trying to use gaskets.
Alex
Alex, I think that is an idea and I forgot to mention that I cleaned the face of the manifold with a file to get the old gasket off - it may indeed need machining.
Dave
Remove the manifolds and make sure they're nice and clean and flat. Correct on the installation--fiber side to head; metal side to manifold. The idea is when the exhaust manifold heats and cools, it will expand and contract and "ride" against the metal gasket surface. Torque to spec. with a torque wrench.
I'd hold off on the RTV right now. Try it without first. If they still loosen up, then try it.
Hi Walter,
Wellll...... I kinda did that - I took the offending manifold off (left - of course it couldn't be the relatively easy-to-remove RIGHT one!) and planed the faces smooth with two grades of files, and let me tell you, it really needed it! But before I was able to read your post, I glooped the faces and gaskets with high-temp RTV and it is sitting out in the carport to cure for a tad before I put it on and bolt it down. If worse comes to worst, I have another set of gaskets on order and I can pull the $%&^&# manifold again, clean it up, and put dry gaskets in in a few days.
At least I have a flat, uniform mating surface and that is a big plus!
Dave
With manifolds or any header with a thick flange I never use a gasket. Thin coat of RTV and that's it.
Filing each flange flat has always worked for me. You could machine the entire manifold but that could result in a lot of material removal if it has any bow in it.