Gasket removal

[Anonymous]

Anyone have a trick for getting off gaskets without too much scraping?
Aluminium is so soft. It's so easy slip and tear the surface up.

I tried some paint remover I had laying around and that did basically nothing.
Used the glass beader (portable home unit) and 60 psi didn't do much good. Got it off but it was very slow. And I wouldn't want to use it on the head or cases anyway.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Clone]

Permatex gasket remover, I think there is also one made by Loctite, just spray it on and walk away. When you come back from 7-11 with the slurpee the gasket is all bubbled up and wipes off.

[brs127s]

I have used the Permatex stuff, but if the engine is painted, it will take the paint off. I sprayed it into a plastic dish an brushed it on with a model paint brush. My buddy said the best thing to use is an old pocket knife with a short blade. You have the most control over it when scraping, to prevent scraping the aluminum.

[Anonymous]

Picked up a can of the PermaTex over lunch.
I figured it (or anything else that would eat a gasket) would eat paint. Which is alright for what I'm doing now. But I'll need to be careful later.
Thanks.

When you come back from 7-11 with the slurpee the gasket is all bubbled up and wipes off.

Only problem I got now is the nearest 7-11 is about 100 miles away

[Anonymous]

one time when i was changing the valve cover gasket, I was having a hard time getting material off the outermosr part of the gasket surface on the head. I got it off with a little force. Too bad it wasnt gasket material. It was the little rubber gizmos that are at the end of the rocker box in all 4 corners. Boy did I get laughed at for that move.

[Anonymous]

I recal seeing plastic "razor" blades at a body shop supply house. I picked up a bunch and they work great. Sharp like a razor blade but made of plastic. This was a few years ago at least. They are possibly still available. just a suggestion.