HEAD PIPE GASKETS yes you have them and how to remove w/pics

Since I had my spare cylinder head up on the bench to do the thing about the valve shim tool, I figured I'd do a quick piece on something that gets asked quite often:

HEAD PIPE- TO- HEAD EXHAUST GASKETS:

They quite often get well-hammered in, to the point where it's hard to tell they even exist; these are pretty bad but I've seen worse:



(pay no attention to all the wasps' nests in between the fins, they got cleaned out afterward.)


I jam a pointed awl into them to break them free; you can use a small sharp cold chisel or even the tip of a box knife blade; just dig into the gasket not the head itself.




Once you dig into and distort them, they pop right out:




Then it's a matter of cleaning up the ports; I used a shop towel with Brake cleaner on it for these pics; these aren't carbs or brakes so surgically clean isn't necessary, you just need a good seat for the seals.




Then fit your new seals, either OEM:




Or aftermarket:




I find that a small spot of anti-sieze compound will help to "stick" them in place until you can get the pipes mated up into position. Be sure to use anti-sieze on the pipe retaining studs as well, of course.

HOLD the pipe snug against the head, trapping the seal in its proper position, while you snug up the nuts holding the collar.

Tighten the head pipe nuts to the specified torque for your bike evenly, one side at a time, as you "squish" the new seals for the first time.

NEXT TIME: Getting the blasted old seals out of the collector box or mufflers (and proper fittng of new seals.)

As always; comments, corrections or suggestions are always welcome.

Cheers--- Fitz

 

I have 4 into 1 header pipes and had to double up on the gaskets to get a good seal. Just food for thought. Good work as always Fitz.

 

LIKE!!!!
Thanks again Fitz.

 

I just pulled my headers off last night, and theres an awful lot carbon build up. If I go and clean those, should I worry if any fall back inside? I was just going to arm myself with a shopvac and a scraper and tread carefully. Is it absolutely essential nothing gets back inside?

G

 

If you use a shop vac, nothing's going to get back inside; but if you're talking a couple of carbon crumbs, don't sweat it, they'll blow right out as soon as you fire it up.

 

You wouldn't happen to be using the MAC 4-into-1 system would you? I'm afraid to try just the 1 set then have them squished down and need to put a second pair in. Or does that not matter?

 

Thanks for another great tidbit!

 

Yes it was an old set of Mac 4 into one. Even on my new set I doubled up on the gaskets.

 

Sigh... still waiting for the good old USPS to get my MAC into Canada...

grrrr....

 

Well I installed my MAC 4-into-1 and ended up only needing one gasket for each head pipe. Only got to here it run on 2 cylinders can't wait to get my new coil and really hear it.

 

I don't replace those Gaskets without treating them with High-Temp Sealant.

I wipe-on some of the Sealant to the Seat.
Coat the Donuts, ... twice.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CCsQ8wIwAg

 

hey fitz, did you ever do a write up on the exhaust to muffler gaskets?

Thanks!!

 

In the works.

 

Sweet

 

Hi, great write-up, Fitz

Got these aftermarket gaskets

Is there a proper way to orient them (which side facing where) - or doesn´t it matter, as long as all four are installed the same way?



Regards, Finn

 

I need to get new exhaust gaskets since I need to remove my 4 into 1 exhaust to get to my oil filter. I'm confused about what gaskets I need. Some places say the gasket is a round copper ring and others, like bigfritz's picture, show them to be flat ones that seem to be made of gasket material. For a '82 750 Maxim.

 

OEM gaskets are copper, aftermarket are some type of high-temp synthetic material............

 

Thank you.

 

Thank you Fritz. Some aftermarket copper seals off ebay have a fold if that is the right way to describe it. The side of the seal without the fold must go against the exhaust port otherwise the hot gasses can open the seal and cause a leak. What are the solutions if one of the exhaust studs break flush with the cylinder head?

 

Will the original XJ 900f downpipes work with Jama silencers? My Jama headers are okay just now but I will need to replace them later.