Metal head gaskets

Where can I get a one-off metal headgasket?

If it's a one off, someone will have to make it. Maybe a skilled metal worker.

I'm pretty sure it's not just a peace of metal cut out to be a head gasket. I really don't know what they're made of or if you can get different thicknesses.

Paeco can make them from dead soft copper, all they need is an old gasket for a pattern. http://www.paeco.com/ Be prepared for sticker shock.

cometic can as well.

Here we are:

http://www.headgasket.com/gaskets.html

Carter

Thanks guys, now I just need a raise

If I remember, you're talking 100% (basically) pure copper material, and you anneal it as needed to re-use. If you can source the raw sheet in the thickness you want, then do the CAD work, then get your local chicken plant manufacturer to cut it out on their water jet machine and you'd have it. I'd say the water jet time would cost you about fifty bucks, maybe less. That stuff is thin and they charge by the hour. That's what I'd do.

You could also submit your CAD work to emachine.com and get a bid there.

Have you considered making your own from some sheet stock, or even running without one? A lot depends on the application, which you didn't specify. But for what it's worth, I've made my own before, and run without them on some engines.

Can I ask why?

DILYSI Dave wrote: Can I ask why?

Madd boozt yo!

actually, I think he is planning on going shaved head, as high compression as possible (If my memory serves me correctly)

This wasn't that hard to find: http://www.headgasket.com/

z31maniac wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: Can I ask why?

Madd boozt yo!

Still - may be un-necessary. I've thrown compression, boost, and compression + boost at an old school fiber gasket and it's been fine.

I've not used one but looked into it at one point. What I was told is that a copper gasket is hard to get sealed -- you need to properly anneal it and say some magic spells while torquing it down, then pray that it doesn't leak.

What I did instead (mostly because it was really cheap) was have the block o-ringed: a small groove is cut around each bore into which a copper wire is press-fit so that about half the diameter of the wire is seated down in the groove and the other half sits proud of the deck.

If you happen to go this route, learn from my (spendy) mistake: DO NOT install the copper wire until AFTER you install the pistons. I broke numerous rings because the ring compressor did not sit flush on the deck when popping the pistons in.

EDIT: I seem to recall that you can also o-ring the head instead, which might be easier or more convenient, but I don't know, not having done it...

Another way (offerred by headgasket.com, and others I'm sure,) is to use flat sealing rings (they call them compression rings),

http://www.headgasket.com/whnew.html

These are stainless steel, 0.004" thick, and just sit between the copper head gasket and the head/block surface.

A flat ring of specified thickness seems a lot simpler and repeatable than cutting a groove of suspect depth, to contain an O-ring seal of suspect material composition and diameter, and 'hoping' that the amount of crush will be both uniform enough and elastic enough to achieve the desired sealing performance.

I doubt that many folks have the actual knowledge to properly engineer any kind of traditional O-ring on their own. (I certainly do not).

Carter

DILYSI Dave wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: Can I ask why?

Madd boozt yo!

Still - may be un-necessary. I've thrown compression, boost, and compression + boost at an old school fiber gasket and it's been fine.

Really I was being sarcastic. I hold the, possibly outdated view, that especially when boosting I'd rather pop a headgasket than something more expensive do to a boost spike, bad tune, bad batch of fuel, etc......

If your wondering about the apllication it's a chevette 1.6, me and a friend are also turboing his 3400 grand am and his wifes 2.4 G6. So does anyone else agree that blowing a head gasket isn't as bad as breaking something else?