New head gasket during rebuild

Have my engine 90% assembled and am ready to finish putting the cams back in, but after installing my new oil channel and head gaskets Im a bit nervous. Seems my head gasket has some slight wiggle to it on the corners where my finger is touching in the pic. The head was planed last fall, and I just rechecked it and the block with a straight edge and they're level. When I put the head on without the gasket it sits flat, but once I have the gaskets on, and everything torqued properly, the corners behind the front and rear studs have a slight amount of wiggle room. Will this be taken care of after I get the bike restarted and let everything heat up and expand? It's almost as if the oil channel gasket is prevent those four corners from squishing together just right. At the studs themselves there is no wiggle.

 

There should not be a gap anywhere along the head gasket. Did you follow the factory torquing procedure exactly? When you checked the head for flatness did you check in all dimentions (not just crosswise from corner to corner)?

 

I laid the straight edge across the front and rear portions just behind the stud holes and they were straight, as well as across the entire head. Head sits flush without the two gaskets in place, but with the gaskets installed and everything torqued, and in the right 1-14 torque sequence, there seems to be the slight wiggle in those corners. It's not much, but it is there.

 

Paranoia made me take the head back off and it is indeed flat as can be. My concern is that the oil channel gasket it noticeably thicker than the head gasket. I can compress both with my fingers and the oil channel gasket won't compress nearly as much as the head gasket.

 

Oil channel gasket? Are you talking about the cam chain tunnel gasket? Which head gasket set did you get?

 

Yeah, that's the gasket. Got the set via Chacal. It's the right set, as everything fits just fine, but the camp chain tunnel gasket just seems a touch too thick compared to the head gasket.

 

Have the front and rear studs torqued to 23-24 lb ft. just as the acorn nuts and it seems to have taken care of the wiggle. Those studs only call out for 14 lb ft though.

 

I would be very concerned about the studs breaking, or the head cracking. I still think that you have some head warpage at the cam chain tunnel that your straight-edge check did not catch.

 

Hope not, as my head was planed later last year. I couldn't get a feeler gauge more than .05mm underneath any part of my straight edge at any point on the head. Even had trouble getting the .05 underneath the straight edge.

 

Rechecked with a bar torque wrench and I'm actually sitting around 17 lb ft...

 

Well that explains that then. Did you happen to forget to unwind the handle on the clicker before putting it away the last time you used it?

 

Ha, not sure. The bar type is nice when you've got the room to use it, and I should have just used it in the first place.

 

Got to wondering, does the oil pump up through the pistons at all when hand cranking the engine via the timing plate? While adjusting the cams, and using the 19mm wrench to turn the engine, I wondered if after awhile the pistons would need a little oil added, or if the oil pump worked enough just hand cranking...

 

No need to worry. While the pistons are spalsh lubricated, there is plenty of oil left on the cylinder walls to lubricate the rings for hand turning the engine.