Head gasket

Joeh · Post by **Joeh** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:39 am

Hi, I am fitting a new head gasket to my 1948 G80, in the old Matchless book it say you have to heat them up till 'cherry' red and dunk them in cold water to anneal them. Do you still have to do this or are new gaskets ok to use without this process?

saltbox alf · Post by **saltbox alf** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:26 am

Hi Joeh, The object of annealing an old solid copper gasket is to regain the mallabillity ie softness of the metal. this is because a gasket goes through repeated heating and cooling cycles and becomes hard.
a new gasket should be in a "soft" condition so can be fitted without heat treatment. However if the 'new' gasket has been sleeping on a shelf for a while , it would not hurt to anneal it. if you have a blowtorch this will produce enough heat with a wide flame, hold very edge of gasket with tongs or pliers, gently, then pass flame evenly across gasket till it glows dull to cherry red, it will happen quite quickly. then plunge into a receptical with cold water, job done . Pls take the usual precautions re fire hazzards.

Petrol,oil,front room curtains etc!!

Joeh · Post by **Joeh** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:47 pm

Thanks for the info, I heated it up on a gas ring, job done!