Amazing gasket removal technique, with video.

[Skyboy8950]

I have a 30 year old main gasket I can't get off. So in some of my research, I found this video. Take a look. Seems easy enough! Let me know if I should try this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lM7IgqMAiA

[BassCliff]

Hi,

As long as it doesn't destroy the aluminum mating surfaces, that does look really easy.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[chef1366]

Oh snap!
Easy peasy.

[Steve]

I like it.

.

[Skyboy8950]

Sweet! I might pick one up.

[wkmpt]

Wish I had seen that months ago when I was doing cleaning the sh1t off of my head cover gasket.

[rapidray]

I think I will go look for one tomorrow! I will tell you this though, do NOT use a Scotchbrite pad as they WILL remove aluminum!!! Ray.

[tkent02]

Looks easy and everything but I wonder how flat the resulting surface really is. Anyone want to measure?

[Kcwiro]

interesting tool...I personally used a dremel soft brush to clean my gasket surfaces...though this does look to be a useful item. I have a few gaskets to change so I might I'll probably look into picking one of these guys up.

[Big T]

Sky

Go for it

GF is right up the street

He never says where you can get the 3M pad, but it's bound to be available locally

[almarconi]

Here is a place that has them

http://www.drillspot.com/products/60992/3M_-_Abrasive_18737_Bristle_Brush

[bwringer]

I've used the fine blue (softest) surface conditioning discs many, many times with excellent results.

Looks like the bristle brush would last a lot longer and won't load up like the surface conditioning discs.

Gotta get me one a' them...


If you are careful to keep the brush moving and use it evenly, you won't remove enough aluminum to cause any problems with "flatness".

And I agree: stop using razor blades and gasket scrapers. They don't work very well in the first place, and you WILL inevitably gouge the snot out of the aluminum. (You'll F--- your S--- up, as he says in the video.)

If you're truly stuck with scraping, use a new (straight and no gouges) wood chisel at a very shallow angle. Razor blades just bend and gouge, and a chisel's edge is stiff enough to remain perfectly flat.

Lastly, don't forget that brushes and discs will send abrasive particles absolutely EVERYWHERE. You can only use them on completely disassembled parts, and you have to carefully wash the parts afterwards and brush and wash out all the internal passages to remove every last trace of abrasive. Cover up the other stuff in your garage, too.

[Turtleface]

Lastly, don't forget that brushes and discs will send abrasive particles absolutely EVERYWHERE. You can only use them on completely disassembled parts, and you have to carefully wash the parts afterwards and brush and wash out all the internal passages to remove every last trace of abrasive. Cover up the other stuff in your garage, too.

And your eyes! And wear shoes when working with wire brushes. I hear those little wires can feel like absolute hell when they get imbedded in your foot. Not that it's ever happened to me...I read about it on the internet, yeah, that's the ticket.

[Dogma]

Pearson showed me how to use the Ruloc wheels when I had my head work done. Too bad my compressor couldn't keep up. IIRC I used the green pad, and it just doesn't cut the aluminum on the head or cylinders. That bristle pad looks to be a little more effective, but I don't know what kind of gasket or goo was on that supercharger. Chemical gasket remover was worthless.

The base gasket surfaces are a different pain, because you can't really use something as big as a Ruloc wheel with the sleeves in the cylinders, or with the studs in the upper case. Razor blades are nothing but trouble, I learned that on the cam cover. I wound up using a stainless wire wheel in the Dremel. It will cut the aluminum if you don't keep it moving, but not measurably deep. Probably, the Dremel isn't powerful enough to do real damage this way. It's less risky than a razor, IMO, because the razor will gouge aluminum castings in a heartbeat. Deep, too. Keep the wheel moving, especially in a direction parallel to the wheel axis, and all will be well.

One caveat: the wire wheel will throw little wires as it comes apart. Not what you want in your cases. IIRC, I also tried a copper wire wheel, which stayed together much better. Maybe it was the other way around, with stainless lasting better. I can't remember. I do remember that one type lasted about 6x longer than the other. Do any experimenting on the bottom of the jugs, where wires flying around are less of a problem.

[Skyboy8950]

Yea, I'll try it this weekend (pending I can find one), but if someone can beat me to it, post your results!