Fitting gaskets.

[arcturus]

Have a myriad of gaskets in the rebuild kit. Paper gaskets, are they best fitted dry or with a smear of gasket cement. Cork,I believe that they should be soaked in water overnight before fitting. Is that correct?

[simon roberts]

Should not be hard to find a cork expert in Portugal.....

[Derek UK]

Originally Posted by simon roberts

Should not be hard to find a cork expert in Portugal.....

life's too short to drink bad wine

[arcturus]

And I have a good supply of Vino de Alentejo And Vinho do Porto 10yr Tawny. Yum yum!!

[blueosprey90]

On my MGA engines, I use a contact cement on the cork gasket for the valve cover. Valve cover side only. Because gasket is a bit deformed, I'll hold it in place with some clothes line pins overnight until the contact adhesive sets up. The method works extremely well.

There is another cork gasket at the one and three main caps that I just place with no adhesive.

On paper gaskets, say behind front and rear plates, I apply a very thin layer of 3M Form a Gasket, non hardening, onto the gasket. One side only, usually engine side.

For things inside the engine, say the MGA oil pump, I don't use anything.

Not sure what type of oil pan gasket the B16 has, but if cork or paper, I would most likely seal only the pan side.

[omc 47]

Wellseal is my favourite and does not dry hard, usually use it on rocker tops or sump gaskets one side only.
Old engineers just used a smear of grease to hold paper ones in place, this of course is all very well as long as the surface is flat,completely clean with no scratches or erosion but if in any doubt then a thin smear of Wellseal is all l've ever used.
Water pipe "O" rings can also benefit from a smear but to be honest cleanliness is more important than anything and correct tightening of mating surfaces is also obligatory.
While on this subject modern silicone gasket type sealants (like Hylomar) when the mating surfaces are pressed together the silicone can squeeze out and if that constricts galleries either oil or water due to residue braking away then it's not good for a healthy engine rebuild and you can't see it floating round in your engine........not that you intend to use silicone at any point.
......................good luck.

[Bob Meadows]

https://www.tiflex.co.uk/nebar/nebar.html
Nebar Gasket Materials: ~ Ideal for cam covers & other applications- can be purchased in small sheet form (various thicknesses) from ebay or a descent engineering supplier.
Bob.

[dingov70]

Afternoon Arturus , There is little point is wetting a cork gasket as the engine heat will dry it out , in 40 + years I have never done so . My wildest venture was a smear of grease on one mating face to act as an " adhesive " .

Many people grease paper gaskets as it does make dis-assembly easier when the gasket peels off rather than sticking , BUT make sure the mating faces are true , mark free & tightened down correctly .

I used to use blue hylomar , a non setting sealant developed for use by Rolls Royce Aero engines & still used by them today . Good enough for them , it's OK for me then

[arcturus]

I think that the idea of soaking cork gaskets was to soften them as they could have dried out and become brittle. the soaking softened them up and they become a bit more pliable, so an old mechanic told me.

[dingov70]

Well we live & learn , the day we don't some bugger screws the lid on tight .

I can see the validity of the old guy's reasoning . Going to find a cork gasket now , just to experiment