Tip of the day where do these come from?

[markct]

Just reading today's tip of the day that
talks about gasket goop, it makes it sound
like there is no other option if gaskets
are not available. I suppose the author is
uneducated in equipment maintenance as
gasket paper is widely available to make
most any gasket you need, and not mess up
clearances like can happen without gaskets.
I agree rtv has it's place but whenever
possible it is best to make a gasket
instead

 

[L.Fure]

Gasket making seems to be a lost art. That's the first thing our shop teacher taught us when we were studying small engines. If we brought an engine in to overhaul he expected us to make all of the gaskets we needed for the engine. The only gasket we had to buy was the head gasket.

 

[Dick2]

We used to buy gasket material by the roll, sometimes in different thicknesses. We had hole punches to cut out the holes for the bolts.

 

[rd 2N in mo]

what key do you punch to find the gasket list?

 

[old popper]

My nephew was working on his JD B and needed a gasket. I told him to use a cracker box, or the cardboard from a beer 12 pack and make the gasket. He said their high school auto mechanics instructor told them the couldn't do that because it won't work. I told him to tell the instructor that I had been doing that since before he (the teacher) was born!

 

[Winchester1]

Old balls (from ball bearings) can be used to make bolt holes, etc. when making your own gaskets. I have not tried recently but I bet quality old line auto parts stores can still get gasket material by the sheet.

 

[Dachshund]

The best tip is to learn how to make gaskets yourself, and put that RTV CR^P where it belongs......in the garbage.

 

[rrman61]

My dad taught me to use the peening end of a small ball peen hammer to "cut" gasket material to fit.just place material over surface and tap along the edges/holes.

 

[old]

Making your own gasket is just another one of the many lost arts that sadly are slowly get to the point no one know how to do it any more. Shame that so many of the things our parents and grand parents did few can still even think about doing

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

NAPA has it.

 

[RESLLS]

Have made a lot of them over the years. I use empty bullet casings to make the holes. 22, 32, 357, 44 and 45. Last time I needed material I had to go to 2 different stores.

 

[OliverGuy]

We used the the thicker cover of an old national geographic. Perfect!

 

[NoNewParts]

(quoted from post at 17:17:06 09/19/15) Have made a lot of them over the years. I use empty bullet casings to make the holes. 22, 32, 357, 44 and 45. Last time I needed material I had to go to 2 different stores.

good tip, thanks



I make a lot of gaskets,
1) stop what I'm doing to run to town..no
2)at town already..you want [i:17a5aa873e]how[/i:17a5aa873e] much for that gasket?...no

goop......like buttering your bread....ya still need the bread....

 

[markct]

I agree, goop is good on a questionable
gasket or some other applications, and some
motors and such are designed to be gooped
from the factory. I just don't get how such
a poorly written article, or tip, can make
it past the editors. I mean really it
sounds like nothing more than the goop
sales pitch. There are a dozen options
other than goop unlike they make it sound,
and besides most gaskets are readily
available nowadays since laser and waterjet
cutting made it easy to do small runs with
no tooling costs. And the few that are not
can be made from gasket paper that Napa
caries with just a touch of skill, that
would have been a worthwhile tip to talk
about gasket making lol

 

[Bob Kerr]

A while back I worked on a 1928 Chevy 1 ton truck that had been parked since WW2. I found gaskets that were made from an old checkerd oil cloth table cloth and one made from newspaper. Those items were not why the truck was parked either.

 

[TEXXASJOE]

I was in Tractor Supply the other day and even they had rolls of cork gasket material and the thick grey material back in their tractor parts section. A little over priced but still a good way to go. I've been a mechanic in the heavy equipment industry for more than 30 years and have made my own gaskets many times. And yes you can even do it with what you've got handy, it don't have to be store bought material. Poor folks got poor ways but they make do. But you don't have to be poor to do what works. Now as far as "goop" goes it has it's uses as well and like the art of making your own gaskets there is an art to using "goop" the right way also. So good luck and if you aint never done it, try your hand at making a gasket or two. It don't have to be pretty it just needs functionallity.

 

[ShadetreeRet]

I keep several pieces of packaging material around for emergency gaskets. Different thicknesses from the little boxes at margarine is packaged in to cracker boxes. Also have some "store bought" gasket material. Years ago, I bought a gasket punch kit from Sears, it had several different tips that slid on a rod, (kinda like a socket extension) and you could punch the holes almost perfectly. Haven't seen it in several years though. I think it walked off and forgot its way home!

 

[unc]

I have found a transmission cover gasket on a jd model d made from tar paper, and a carb body gasket on a marvel schebler carb made from a rice crispies box. Both seemed to be quite functional. Back in the last century, we learned to make gaskets with gasket paper by peening around the edges of the casting with a light ball peen hammer. Thanks, Mr. Bakkelaar, that trick has come in handy over the years.

 

[FBH44]

Now that tar paper is a good idea.

 

[Dachshund]

My wife's dad tore into an AC "B" a couple years ago....He didn't want to buy/make an oil pan gasket for the thing, so he used two tubes of RTV black on it. It ran all down the sides of the pan and looks like cr^p. He's the world's best mechanic, so you can't tell him anything (OK - he's the world's foremost authority on EVERYTHING...).

 

[Wemedeeres]

I learned to make gaskets by watching my grandpa. I still remember the first time I watched him with a part in the vise carefully peening his way around the part. Most of the things I've worked on lately it was easier to buy the whole gasket set, but last week I made a new cork gasket for the trip mechanism cover on 44 plow I'm restoring!

Does anyone remember the Green Acres episode where Oliver Wendal Douglas made a head gasket from Lisa's hot cakes!?!?!

 

[markct]

Trouble is it ran down the inside too, and in time will get into oil passages and make a great plug that will cut off oil flow to one or more parts

 

[jimg.allentown]

For years, Chrysler has used silicone RTV for oil pan gaskets on many of their transmissions. GM used it for oil pan gaskets on many engines. Even Ford has used it in some applications. The cover on almost every differential uses RTV for a gasket.
HOWEVER, in the case of "specialty" gaskets like head gaskets, the manufacturer's recommendation trumps everything else. They made it, tested it, and "adjusted" it to work a specific way, and they also have to guarantee it, so I do it their way. In any case, the majority of gaskets on modern equipment are designed to go on dry, and adhesives are only used to keep things in place.

 

[jimg.allentown]

Just a comment on the editors to whom you refer.....
Those editors are just that - EDITORS. They are not mechanics, engineers, or farmers. Editors only look at proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, not content.