Advice on removing manifolds/heads

[rbezdon]

I would like to know from some of the guys who own boat repair facilities where time is an issue for repair, what you do to remove the old gaskets. I just pulled my heads to repair a blown head gasket and when I went to reinstall it took me over 2 to 3 hours to clean off the old intake, exhaust man to head, and exhaust man to riser (these were the WORST) gaskets. These gaskets were not applied with any form of gasket sealer and were only a year old!! I put them on last year during my repower. If I had been paying a shop at $85 an hour I practically could have bought new manifolds for the same money (at least one). I was careful to remove the old gaskets down to the metal so I wont have leaks without scratching the surfaces but what a pain in the a$$. For next time, what do you do to get that dried on old thing off??

 

[Bondo]

Re: Advice on removing manifolds/heads

A Die-Grinder with a "Rol-Lock Disc",....sort of a glorified Scotch Brite Pad,.........<br /><br />Or,....<br />Before I got this set-up,...<br />A 4" Grinder with a WireWheel did it for Me......<br /><br />Just be EXTREMELY Careful about all the Dust that's blown around,......<br />Use Lots of Rags,+ Compressed Air for Clean Up........

 

[rbezdon]

Re: Advice on removing manifolds/heads

I put a 1 inch wire wheel brush on my drill but I was afraid to scratch the surfaces. I wound up using a razor balde scraper (like you clean paint off of windows with) and then a light brushing with the wire wheel brush to polish the surface. It took forever.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Advice on removing manifolds/heads

After I scraped off the old gaskets, I used 220 grit paper on a sheet of glass to smooth them up.

 

[lowshovel1]

Re: Advice on removing manifolds/heads

I'm with Bondo on this one,I went thru a box of 25 on this last rebuild (40 bucks MAC truck) a real time saver.

 

[yoced]

Re: Advice on removing manifolds/heads

I use Permatex 4MA gasket remover spray, and an old file that has been sharpened down the long side as well as as on the tip. This gives me a 'gasket' blade that covers a large surface area nice and flat, with plenty of leverage - just use it like an old hand plane.<br /><br />Gotta caution about Bondo's Rol-Lock disc and other mechanized removals: I have turned down many a warranty complaint after finding that a customer has rounded his surfaces with rotory tools. In the hands of an ace mechanic like Bondo not so much a problem, but in the hands of an amateur or stupid professional they can be a disaster.

 

[rbezdon]

Re: Advice on removing manifolds/heads

Thanks for all the posts. It seems everyone uses some version of the scraper and wire brush method. Maybe I am just taking too much time to get it prefrctly clean with out scratching the surfaces. It just seems like an awfully expemsive job for a shop.