Intake + Head Gasket questions...

[Buzzbomb]

Well, I received my L20B head gasket set today. It's an Ishino set, and seems to be a really nice quality gasket set. I have a couple newbie questions about these gaskets, though :P .

 

The intake/exhaust gasket has metal shields on the exhaust ports. Do these metal shields go toward the head or away from the head? I'm assuming away from the head, but then again I've never seen a gasket like this before..Just thought I'd be sure.

 

Head gasket...Hainz says in his video that he Copper Coats it. I like the idea, but I don't know if this is right for this gasket. It didn't come with any instructions, but IS Made in Japan. This is a "Stone" Ishino gasket, which I am fairly certain is a relabeled OEM Nissan gasket. I'm not sure what exactly it's made of? What about the Copper Coating?

 

I've been scraping so much my thumbs feel like they are disjointed! Still, lots of progress, and now my truck has a new headgasket. It's just not on yet :D ..Thanks for any clarification on this stuff.

[Phlebmaster]

If you try and put the intake / exhaust manifold gasket on, you will see that it will fit on all 3 exhaust mani studs when you have it on correctly. One way it will not fit over all 3....or at least that is how it worked for me that last 3 times. This should be your guide.

 

I can say that the copper spray is a good idea, and you may also want to put high temp RTV where the water ports are between your intake and head. But only use a thin coat of spray and RTV to prevent leaks later.

Hope this helps...oh, we want pics. lol

 

 

Well, I received my L20B head gasket set today. It's an Ishino set, and seems to be a really nice quality gasket set. I have a couple newbie questions about these gaskets, though :P .

 

The intake/exhaust gasket has metal shields on the exhaust ports. Do these metal shields go toward the head or away from the head? I'm assuming away from the head, but then again I've never seen a gasket like this before..Just thought I'd be sure.

 

Head gasket...Hainz says in his video that he Copper Coats it. I like the idea, but I don't know if this is right for this gasket. It didn't come with any instructions, but IS Made in Japan. This is a "Stone" Ishino gasket, which I am fairly certain is a relabeled OEM Nissan gasket. I'm not sure what exactly it's made of? What about the Copper Coating?

 

I've been scraping so much my thumbs feel like they are disjointed! Still, lots of progress, and now my truck has a new headgasket. It's just not on yet :D ..Thanks for any clarification on this stuff.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Phlebmaster

[datzenmike]

Never coat the head/block or the gasket unless the manufacturer supplies a tube of sealer and instructions. Mount gasket to spotlessly clean block and head surfaces, clean bolt and block threads, (lightly oiled) torque in sequence to 1/3 finished torque, then in sequence to 2/3 and then in sequence to final torque. If you have scratched or gouged the soft aluminum head when scraping the gasket off, you had better buff it smooth with a light wire wheel. Easy does it, smooth and shiny.

 

All the intake/exhaust gaskets I've seen had the metal wrapped equally around the exhaust ports on either side of the gasket.

[Phlebmaster]

I have tried NOT using sealer on my water ports and have always ended up with a coolant leak. But, according to the book....Mike is right. :D

[datzenmike]

Nothing on h/g..... do whatever works for you on manifolds.

[Buzzbomb]

Thanks for the quick answers :cool:

 

Man do I feel dumb :o ...I took the intake gasket out of the package, and thought it was symmetrical. It's not. Just like Phlebmaster said, it won't fit on one way, and that means the steel covers go out. I thought about it for longer than 5 seconds, and realized it wouldn't fit inward with the steel surrounds anyway, because the the intake coolant holes would leak like crazy -DUH :eek: !

 

By steel surround, I'm not talking about the O rings, but an actual steel plate on the exhaust ports. I'd bet it's supposed to keep it from sticking on the exhaust manifold. It's kind of like those old school metal exhaust gaskets for V8 engines. Anyway, I think the smear of RTV on the intake coolant holes is a good idea. I'm guessing you used Permatex black hi-temp, Phlebmaster? Just a thin film around the coolant holes?

 

To err on the side of caution, I will just put the hg on as is. If I was sure what the gasket was made of, I'd coat it, but I've read a little here and there about coating X type of gasket and not coating Y or Z gasket. What Datzenmike says about instructions and "sealers" makes sense.

 

I haven't nicked it up at all. I've been really careful, and it's smooth. It's shiny viewed from the side, but I'm to the point now where the old gasket's "ghost" just isn't going anywhere, so it isn't so shiny from the front..It is CLEAN, though. I just have to clean out the bolt holes, track down some new hardware for a few things, and then I'll be ready to put it back together.

 

I'm glad to be this far with this project, thanks to all the help here! :D

[Phlebmaster]

Yes, just a thin coat around the water holes should do the trick. :) Glad to help.

[datzenmike]

You might want to consider mounting the manifolds while the head is off. I know it's awkward but not impossible to lift it on when together. This is how I do it and by myself too. The bottom row of studs are a real bitch to get at when on the motor. This way you can see what you're doing and get the nuts tight.

[Buzzbomb]

You might want to consider mounting the manifolds while the head is off. I know it's awkward but not impossible to lift it on when together. This is how I do it and by myself too. The bottom row of studs are a real bitch to get at when on the motor. This way you can see what you're doing and get the nuts tight.

 

Quick update...I'm not quite done, but I DO have the head on, the bolts torqued down, and the sprocket on the chain with my alignment marks lined up as per Hainz's video :cool: ! The cam/sprocket alignment marks didn't move when I wheeled it CW around to TDC after putting the head/sprocket/chain on. I just did that to make sure everything was set right, like Hainz did in his video...Using the diagram layout, I torqued everything down in small increments until I reached each torque setting up until the final.

 

I first tried to put all the stuff on the head and drop it in, but I just couldn't get it right. All the stuff on there made it pretty awkward, at least for me. I guess with experience comes confidence with that sort of stuff. Since nothing was actually torqued down, I took off the manifolds to put the head on, and will go ahead and install them separately. I have a 12mm u-Socket, which worked awesome for taking it all off when I started. I also cleaned everything as well as I possibly could, so it won't be such a mess getting the socket on the lower manifold bolts. I know it's tougher, but that's OK.

 

I'm glad to be at the tail end of this, and super grateful for all the help I've received on this board so far :thumbup:

[Phlebmaster]

Nice work Buzz! Now you won't be afraid to dig in next time. :D

[Buzzbomb]

Nice work Buzz! Now you won't be afraid to dig in next time. :D

 

Thanks :D .. It was pretty intimidating at first, but all the help was a HUGE help; I'm not done yet, though. LIke you said, if I can pull this off successfully, I'll dig in to whatever :P