Which way up do the steel-ringed composite head gaskets fit? I believe the compound on the bottom suits steel and the top aluminium. I have two spare gaskets which have been kicking around for a while and look slightly different. One has grey flame rings (looks like a coating of some sort, a bit rusty in spots) and is stamped TOP on the rear left of the side where the flame rings meet in the middle, but a post on http://www.accessnorton.com/viewtopic.php?p=22367 states that the circles don't meet on the top side but on the bottom!
The other, newer-looking gasket has shiny steel rings, a softer gasket material, and isn't stamped with any lettering.
The gasket I'm replacing was fitted with the side where the steel rings meet at the bottom.
It seems there are several versions of this type of gasket, some of them presumably of poor quality. Can anyone describe a genuine one?
American contributors describe gaskets marked Reinz, Victor and 0.75, but I assume these are not supplied in the UK?
Nobody knows? In case anyo…
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Haha - you have put the te…
Haha - you have put the term to my issue, 'delamination'. I replaced the head gasket on my Roadster a few months ago and the result was more oil over the top end. The gasket came with the bike when I bought it two years ago.
I ordered a new one from Andover Norton (those guys are great), when I lifted the head the gasket split leaving its remains on the head and top of the barrell - it came off OK but took an hour to get spot-less. I guess the lesson is to use good known parts when attempting these jobs.
BTW - I was set to come to Colchester last Sunday (having fixed the bike on the Sunday), but did not venture out as the weather was very bad - hope the event still went OK for those that out in the effort.
Regards - Paul.
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That's similar to my expe…
That's similar to my experience yesterday. Those soft gaskets leave grey goo stuck to the head and barrel that seems resistant to most solvents - I tried petrol, acetone and parts cleaner aerosol but ended up scraping and wire brushing it off.
I risked using the old style Klinger gasket just to get the bike back on the road but there's a new Andover one on its way in case it fails.
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Nobody knows?
In case anyone's interested I can now answer my own question, having spoken to Andover Norton.
It doesn't matter which way up, as the gasket surface is the same on both sides.
My older spare gasket which is stamped TOP was made by Nortons' original supplier Klinger, so must be very old.
The softer, unstamped ones are prone to delamination, but the one I'm replacing did last nearly 24000 miles.
The gaskets currently supplied by Andover Norton are made by Reinz.