Liquid gasket

The Fant's been marking its territory wherever it's left recently, so I
need to reseal the LHS engine cover.

Apparently they no longer produce gaskets for that engine, so I've got
myself a nice tube of Loctite 5910, which appeared to be about the right
kind of stuff.

I've never used liquid gasket before, so any tips?

I'm guessing:
- clean the surfaces with some solvent first;
- apply the thinnest bead I think I can get away with (1-2mm?),
remembering to go round both side of any bolt holes;
- assemble within 15 minutes;
- leave for at least 24 hours before firing up the engine.

Is that about right?

 

Sounds about right, yes. I'd say 2mm is too much, though. Believe me,
you only want the thinnest smear possible.

 

Are you sure? Isn't it the same as other Ducs of the same era?
Have you tried Mdina Italia?

Or you could get a sheet of gasket paper from your local motor factor
and make one like your grandfather should have taught you to do.

 

Post corrected.

 

Indeed. Strings of set excess gasket like the old orange silicone
stuff can wreak havoc if it gets in the wrong places DAMHIKIJDOK.

 

Corrected post corrected.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Champ

They really don't expect any to have survived, which seems entirely
reasonable to me.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought. I might try it on a small section and
re-assemble it to see how far it goes, before doing the whole lot.

 

More accurately: Ducati stopped using those gaskets themselves, so it's
not surprising that they don't provide them for anybody else.

 

Obviously not, that's why I said "apparently".

Yes, it is, and "apparently" they stopped using gaskets in that
engine[0] some time after ~1995, so I was advised not to bother trying
to get a gasket, just to use liquid sealant.

This advice came from our friendly local mechanic, who happens to be an
Italian bike specialist.

No. Nor have I tried Roy at Italsport, or Pro Twins, or any of the other
myriad Ducati specialists that I could have found by spending a whole
afternoon using Google and the phone.

If I do a good job with the sealant, it should be better than a gasket.


[0] Also confirmed from an independent source.

 

Yeah, get some gasket paper and make a proper one.

It's not what I'd do, but it'll probably work.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Or simply place a bolt slight larger than the original bolt onto the gasket
and over the hole, then roll the bolt around in a "cone shaped" shape.
That'll cut a perfectly sized hole without tearing the gasket material. I'd
use the proper gasket paper stuff though, rather than a cornflakes box
because the proper stuff comes in big enough sheets that you don't have to
make joints in the gasket.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Or simply paint the cover gasket face with oil, grease, or black poster
paint and print it.

 

<Sets timer[1] awaiting crn post saying 'Cornflake box'>

[1] or calendar

 

The crank case halves on aircooled VW engines are so precisely
machined that they fit together without a gasket so it isn't total
fantasy.

 

so precisely machined that they fit together... on the same
motorcycle.

 

Alfa single spark straight fours can pretty much do away with head
gaskets. So I am told.

<insert witty comment here>

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

But they do use a sealant. What was your point again?

 

2cv engines don't. The two halves of the crankcase (vertically split)
don't require any gasket or sealant at all. No head gasket or barrel-to-
crankcase gasket, either. Nor do they leak...

 

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember fishman

As a publicity undertaking in the 70s, one of the silicone gasket
companies sponsored Gerry Marshall + Big Bertha and claimed the engine
had been assembled with no conventional gaskets apart from the head
ones.

Merlins were like that - problem was, pre-Packard, they took an age to
fit and finish. So much so, if we'd been waiting for them to be made
like that, we'd have run out of engines.