Making a head gasket?

[Farmingstock]

Hello all

Have an old 100cc dirt bike with a Suzuki engine fitted, the oil seal has gone so I stripped the engine to change the seal, managed to get the seals however I can’t get a head gasket until 2024, been waiting months but still on back order/not available. So I’m wondering if it’s possible to create one if do how and from what? It’s only a thin paper gasket that’s fitted now (it ripped when dismantling) not seen any head gasket paper online, I’m guessing just try and cut round the barrel etc?

[MarJay]

You could make one out of copper. There is a company in the US who will take any pattern and then laser cut it out of copper. You need to anneal it before use but it's got the advantage that it is re-usable. You just anneal it every time.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/coppergasketsunlimited

https://coppergaskets.us/

It seems a few UK companies have sprung up since I last used copper gaskets unlimited...

https://www.stephensgaskets.co.uk/copper-gasket-manufacturers

If it's an air cooled two stroke, a copper gasket will be perfect. If it's liquid cooled, it's harder to make it seal but it should be doable.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[KiwiBob]

Alan Milyard uses copper!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZvDnOMf8C0

[stinkwheel]

If it's an air-cooled stroker with an alloy head, you might just be able to lap the head onto the barrel.

What sort of head gasket is it supposed to have, what engine is it?

I use cereal packets for paper gaskets. or you can buy any amount of proper gasket paper in various thicknesses on ebay.

Annealed copper sheet is traditional for head gaskets, depends on if it has any built-in oilway seals/fire rings. It's a sod to cut out neatly but perfectly do-able. I've also seen annealed aluminium sheet used.

They even experimented with skeletonised copper wire head gaskets in the post-war period. By all accounts they work fine because you only need a gas-tight seal round the edges of the pressure-bearing parts and the compression of the wire was very high. It just had a tendancy to eat into the metal and corrode where it wasn't leaving you with a bit of a mess to deal with if you needed to replace them.

I've often wondered if you could use silicone oven liner sheet for a head gasket. Never tried it. It would get a good seal and cope with the heat, i just worry about it splitting when torqued down.
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