bold head gasket claim!

davidmiladinovic · Post by **davidmiladinovic** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:17 pm

now this claim isn't from me. my head gasket recently blew, so naturally i set about trying to cure the problem. i came across a company called steel seal, they sell a product thats targeted at fixing blown head gaskets and cracked casings. its like a chemical metal that you mix with your coolant and at a certain temperature it sets after circulating your colling system. HAS ANYONE HEARD OF STEEL SEAL? IS IT ANY GOOD?

Dubstar · Post by **Dubstar** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:39 pm

never heard of it , but id do it properly with new gasket

Post by **gubbs** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:24 am

Never heard of it? TBH a new gasket is only Â£13 and takes about 3 hrs to do properly.

davidmiladinovic · Post by **davidmiladinovic** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:37 am

thats intertesting. my mechanic is saying it will take almost 2 days and has quoted Â£800. is he trying to have my pants down? is it 3hrs leaving the engine in to do the work? thanks

Post by **rene** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:54 pm

hes trying to have your pants down and run off with them..

all you need to do is Skim the head, put new gasket on tighten up

Hynes manual will talk you though it, id plan a day or 2 if its your first one though

superman · Post by **superman** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:58 pm

How much is one of them crane thigs to take the engine out? i think ill have to get me one at some point.

Post by **masterofinsanity** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:26 pm

loads here mate http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search. ... gine+hoist

superman · Post by **superman** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:58 pm

Ah cheers Baz, so if i set 150 back that should get me one with a 1 ton capacity dont need more than that do i.

do you have to put chains round your engine and that to hoist it out with these things. bit worried i might damage somethin. not that iv got any plans to do anythin till winter time anyway thoe.

RedexRobB · Post by **RedexRobB** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:21 pm

You shouldnt need one of those cranes mate, just you and a friend can take the motor out.

superman · Post by **superman** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:39 pm

Really, ah thats not so bad then, you know when i take the engine out can i just stick it on the floor an work on it from there or do i need to place it on a soft surface or somethin, i think ill strip it come winter an clean everything out.

RedexRobB · Post by **RedexRobB** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:50 pm

What i advise is, get something underneath the engine so when you take out the bolts it doesnt just drop, if its got something underneath that'll take the weight. Use something like bricks. Then get someone to help you with taking the weight of the motor while removing each layer of bricks till you can finally pull the engine out to one side. Id put a carpet down, just incase, if it does drop slightly then the carpet will absorb some of the impact. Also if you need to move the engine about your not gonna scratch the bottom of the pan on concrete.

You can get stands for thr engine, its like a big board with two jacks at each end, when the engine is released you just lower the jacks and then remove the motor. they are in the manual somewhere.

Dubstar · Post by **Dubstar** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:21 pm

Best thing to put under it is a old car tyre, springy and will stop it suddenly droping, if you use carpet its still only got 1cm of spring where as a tyre has loads !

Post by **Northern ANdy** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:11 pm

its not that heavy anyway you could hold it long enough to lower it down with one arm.

davidmiladinovic · Post by **davidmiladinovic** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:46 pm

does skiming the head need to be done on a milling machine? and why skim the head, is there likely to be carbon build up or something? cheers.

Post by **gubbs** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:10 pm

davidmiladinovic wrote:does skiming the head need to be done on a milling machine? and why skim the head, is there likely to be carbon build up or something? cheers.

You just need a pane of glass, some wet n dry and a bit of patience.

Gaffer the paper to the glass, sprinkle on some soapy water and figure of eight the head until its perfectly smooth and perfectly flat accross the whole surface.

You really dont need to go mad. Few mins thats all ..

No point cleaning all the carbon off the valve seats, piston crowns etc. Its all going to re-appear soon enough and won't throw your valve clearences off all over the place for the first 2k afterward.

As for using a lift/crane ... you could I suppose.

I just use muscle, a pallete and some bricks:

http://cjgavin.com/beam/ZXR400H/