Gasket Dressing??

[mistertoadie]

Finally got all my gaskets in today. All oem suzuki. Service manager at suz. shop says to assemble with dry gaskets. Any input??

[avastyematey]

do it dry. some people like using a little bit of gasket sealer at the bends, to make everything lie flat, you won't necessarily be able to reuse the gaskets if you do that though.

[blowerbike]

i like both french and ranch...
just depends on my mood

[reddirtrider]

If you do it dry they can tear when you need to disassemble for any reason. Put a very light coat of oil on them and they not only won't leak, they'll be reusable later.

[bwringer]

The manual says dry, but on the cover gaskets (clutch, stator, valve cover) I normally use a light coat of grease so they can be re-used. These are easy to replace later if they leak, but I've never had a problem, and being able to re-use these gaskets can make life sooooooooo much easier in the future.

On base and head gaskets, do exactly what the manual says -- dry.

[mistertoadie]

Thanks for the input, I was kinda plannin on followin the recommendations in the clymer manual, which is dry for everything but the valve cover, which they say to use rtv, and also a couple dabs on the case joint under the stator cover. The originals were absolutely unuseable. Thought about buyin a "bargain" gasket set off e-bay, but figured oem would be best.(though EXPENSIVE!)

How about ring gap? What is the recommended ring gap if I just place the rings in the bores, They are oem standard rings, but i should still gap them, correct? The shop manual doesn't cover this. Unless I missed it.

[rapidray]

Ring end gaps will be safe if you set them at .004 of an inch, per inch of bore diameter. Example: 3 inch bore, .012 ring gap. 4 inch bore, .016 ring gap. Multiply your bore diameter, in INCHES, by .004 to get the # needed. Ray.

[mistertoadie]

i like both french and ranch...
just depends on my mood

I used to prefer catalina french, but they changed the recipe!! Can you believe that crap?? 20 something years of loving catalina and they goof it all up on me. Didn't anybody learn anything from the "new coke" fiasco??

[mistertoadie]

Thanks Ray! I know I saw that somewhere but couldn't think where. Gotta start using search more often.

[lilbilly]

I'm replacing the gasket on the clutch cover, and am putting a light film of rtv on it - can I ride immediately or does this need time to cure?

[blowerbike]

I'm replacing the gasket on the clutch cover, and am putting a light film of rtv on it - can I ride immediately or does this need time to cure?

i hate using silly corn on anything unless its a must type of hillbilly rigging.
dry is best for me..
thats why suzuki put dowls on the engine case/clutch cover assy.