gasket residue

[pos-tech]

how do you remove gasket residue, I used to use a razor on cars, but I am worried about damaging the aluminum. Any tricks??

[kahuna]

gasket bones

Remember if you try any chemical other than gas,like adhesive remover on a q -tip or enamel reducer that you best clean thoroughly with parts cleaner then gas or your new seal might tend to leak after a couple of good runs.Like car motors you mentioned,I hated the dreaded valve cover scraping of what we called gasket bones.

[mark]

I agree, the razor blade is problematic, but if you get the right angle and have some gasket remover down they work well. What's worked for me so far is gasket remover and a couple of 3M scrubbing pads that are fairly aggressive. Sometimes its just a pain and takes time. Don't tell anybody else, but fingernails work pretty good too.

[DimitriT]

Went though this recently. What a pain. I tried:

paint remover, paint thinner, carb cleaner, aluminum sandpaper, synthetic steel wool, real steel wool, scotch brite, razor sharp wood chisel, razor blades, dremel tool with light sandpaper tip, polishing tip.

The chemicals didn't do anything for me. What worked best for me was the razor blades and the sharp (I mean shave-your-arm-with-it sharp) 1/2" wood chisel. The dremel and sandpaper were useful in some places and to smooth out any gouges.

Yes, I did gouge the surface in one or too places but I sanded out the gouges and used the silicone rubber (realgaskets.com) gasket. So far no leaks and I kind of like the orange red gasket material.. picks up the red in the tank and covers.