Stag Cam cover gaskets and seals

[Rod1883]

I've had a drip of oil that annoyingly finds its way onto the RH exhaust for some time now. I've traced it to the Cam cover gaskets, and so I ordered those plus new half moon rubber bungs and the screw sealing rings from SOC Spares. The parts have arrived and I've removed the covers and I'm now in the process of cleaning everything up. The covers haven't been off, to my knowledge, for a very long time and clearly the cork gaskets were sealed to the heads with blue hylomar. I'm carefully trying to get all the residue off the heads without damaging them - using my thumbnail mainly.

My questions are:

What is best for getting the residue of the sealant off the heads?

What is best to use to fit and seal the new cork gaskets to the covers and heads. Advice received from some Stag club members involves sticking the gaskets to the covers and then using just a thin film of grease on the face that mates with the head, thoughts?

What should I use on the half moons and the cover screw sealing rings, if anything?

Thanks, Rod

[Nick Jones]

Some carb cleaners will get hylomar off.  The tool station stuff seems to dissolve nearly anything. Just keep it away from paint!  Failing that my favourite weapons are screwdrivers or stanley-knife blades used with caution.

I would agree with the tactic of gluing the gasket to the covers with a suitable sealant (I like the better quality silicon sealants, got a tube of Victor Reinz stuff on the go at present) and then grease on the head surface.  I'd use a thin smear of silicone on the D seals.

[RedRooster]

Mac tools, ace scrappers.

 

[thebrookster]

For scraping things that you don't want to damage, take a piece of copper tube and hammer one end flat. Careful hammering will give a good edge to the end which you can use as a scraper on most metals without damaging them.

Cheers,

Phil

[Rod1883]

Thanks for the replies and advice.

Nick - is there a particular type/brand of silicon sealant you would recommend for the rubber D seals/half moon bungs considering the temperature it will be at and the sealing of oil involved?

Rod

[Nick Jones]

There are so many...…. Loctite alone have about 5 different versions......

The one I've been using lately is this

https://www.victorreinz.com/en/products/sealants/reinzosil-and-reinzoplast.aspx?region

Mostly because it's what my favourite motor factor keeps , but it works just fine too.  Also use Hylomar sometimes.

[gt64ever]

I my experience, Meths will get rid of Hylomar residue.

Ian

[JohnD]

6 hours ago, thebrookster said:

For scraping things that you don't want to damage, take a piece of copper tube and hammer one end flat. Careful hammering will give a good edge to the end which you can use as a scraper on most metals without damaging them.

Cheers,

Phil

Excellent, Phil!   I was going to suggest carving a scraper from a hard wood, so as to shape it to the part to be cleaned, and protect the work, but copper would be better, and easily shaped.    The hammering is a vital part, as it will work-harden the copper, so if it seems to bounce off the old sealant, hammer it again!

John

[Rod1883]

All fitted.
Covers and head surfaces cleaned with a combination of Brake cleaner, Carb Cleaner, Meths and careful scraping with a screwdriver, Stanley blade knife and thumb/fingernails.
Gaskets stuck with Tiger seal (covers clamped to a piece of wood overnight), gasket then smeared with grease and fitted after fitting the new half moons with a smear of silicone. I'm not sure the half moons were flush, but assumed they would compress (I didn't want to try to trim and end up with insufficient compression to seal).
Everything seems OK - there may be a slight weep from the rear half moon LH side, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks for all the advice

[nang]

I'm a great fan of Loctite Master Gasket. Not cheap but ,for me, very effective.Stuck the front sealing block on a Triumph S amongst other things and no sign of an oil leak.

 Tony.

[nang]

Just be sure that everything is flat and clean first. 

Tony.