Sealant for head gasket?
 

Hi there all...I'm going to decarbon the head on my 73 this week. Got a new head gasket. When I put it back together, is it necessary to put sealant on the gasket? I know some people use copper coat (sp?) and I've heard others use something called Hi Tack (sp?), but I don't have anything lying around and don't want to buy anything if it isn't necessary. thanks for your input.
Jason

I put the head gasket in my 122 dry.. and it has done fine so far.

put it on dry. a little oil on the bolt threads give an accurate torqe reading.
Dave

The old service manuals say to soak the gasket in water before installing, but I think that is for the old style gasket material. I just put them on dry. If you are using the old head bolts, torque in steps to the lowest recommended value and run the engine until warm (10-15 minutes). Then wait 10-15 minutes and retorque to the lowest value and then step up to the highest value and finish torque. Make sure to torque in the sequence the manual suggests.

Thanks for the input guys. Hopefully I won't run into any unforseen problems...that's usually my luck.
Jason

IMHO, the guys are exactly right, we have been putting head gaskets on dry for a long time and never had any problems and we don't use any sealer. I do like to chase the threads in the block and bolt/stud threads, before putting the bolts back in even new ones.

I agree with Yosemite Sam about cleaning the threads. I always run a tap down all the bolt holes in the block and run a chaser or die down the bolts to clean the threads up good. Then like the others said, light coat of oil on the bolts and dry head gasket. Just my :TwoCents:

Now is also a great time to check the head for flatness too.

Cheers

I got a 1/4" thick piece of plate glass and some sand paper to sand down the head to get a truer flat before putting mine back together. I probably had almost 1.5 hours of circular sanding to get it all flat.

I would like to add my opinion, and suggestions also. I think it's a great idea to clean, and "surface" the head while you have it off, I even go so far as to polish the outside of the head... I like to do a good job one time, and be done with it. Don't use to fine a grit on the head gasket mating surface, you don't want a super fine finish in my opinion on the mating part, a 400-600 grit finish would be about right in my opinion. I then clean the fins of the head good, and polish them for that finishing touch... it also makes clean up in the future very easy.

On the head bolts please do yourself a favor, use a anti-seize to coat the threads with. I had to spend several hours getting a frozen head bolt out of mine, the anti-seize is cheap (get a can of it with the handle/brush made together) I use it on just about everything I work on. By the way, you have done a great job troubleshooting the problem, and so far you are going about the repair with a professional, or even above professional manner. I like to see people who want to fix/repair things right, and above/beyond just good enough.