If you look back to my list of vehicles, you'll notice a 1978 Harley FLH Electra-Gliide ... that's a 74 cu. in. shovelhead from the era when AMF owned (ruined?) Harley Davidson. It's was also a 75th Anniversary Electra-Glide.
The bike was a frame and five boxes of parts when I bought it ... without going into details, calling it a 'basket case' would be an insult to real basket cases. I put it back together, got it running, and rode it many miles without any breakdowns or accidents. (We won't count the time Harley Bob took it for a test ride and punched a huge hole in Big Mike's hedge on his way back ... )
Here's the good part -- once I got it together and running, it didn't leak!!
Yeah, I know what you're thinking ... but the bikers up here still talk about it and I can provide witnesses who'll testify in court ...
Here's my secret (?) -- new gaskets and Permatex® High Tack™ Spray-A-Gasket™ Sealant
You'd be surprised how many people try to reuse old gaskets ... For Pete's sake, folks!! They only cost a few dollars! (If you don't have a new one handy, use the old one only until you can buy -- and replace it with -- a new one.)
Permatex also sells the sealant in a brush-on form but I prefer the spray-on version ... yields a more even coating. Spray one side of the gasket and let it dry. Flip the gasket over onto a clean piece of wax paper, spray the other side, and let it dry again. Spray the second side again (you can leave it on the wax paper for the second coat) and carefully pick it up by the edges. (Avoid touching the areas that will be sealing against metal.) Holding it by the edges or with a pencil through a bolt hole, respray the first side. (Try not to get yourself or everything else too messy ... ) As soon as the sealant starts getting tacky, position the gasket on the part and lightly bolt the part in place. (Finger tight only ... you can torque down the bolts after the sealant has cured.)
The rest of the 'secret' involves an assembly sequence that pertains to HD engines only so I'll skip it.
BTW - Permatex also sells a great Gasket Remover that I uses almost as often as brake cleaner. (I buy brake cleaner by the case.)
1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A
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We had our fun today...put a bag of ice in the black tank and drove over to the rest area with a free dump station and emptied out the tank. I don't think it had been emptied in a long, long time. We flushed afterwards with water from the rinsing tap there until it ran clean and no more solids came out. But that took quite a while. I think the ice cubes were the right thing to do...
Now we can seal up the leaking seam in the tank with tank sealing goop and eternabond.
'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo
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* This post was edited 09/30/07 04:53pm by timmac *
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Leeann wrote:
We had our fun today...put a bag of ice in the black tank and drove over to the rest area with a free dump station and emptied out the tank. I don't think it had been emptied in a long, long time. We flushed afterwards with water from the rinsing tap there until it ran clean and no more solids came out. But that took quite a while. I think the ice cubes were the right thing to do...
Now we can seal up the leaking seam in the tank with tank sealing goop and eternabond.
We had our fun today...put a bag of ice in the black tank and drove over to the rest area with a free dump station and emptied out the tank. I don't think it had been emptied in a long, long time. We flushed afterwards with water from the rinsing tap there until it ran clean and no more solids came out. But that took quite a while. I think the ice cubes were the right thing to do...
Now we can seal up the leaking seam in the tank with tank sealing goop and eternabond.
'Splain, please?
Ice?
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/wink.gif "wink")
She ain't purdy, but at least she's slow!
79powerwagon wrote:
In one of the other forums here, it is recommended to you bags of ice tossed through the toilet, then drive around for a while until the ice is melted. What happens is the ice is hard enough to act as a scraper in the tank, then melts to water for draining. Whoever thought of it originally was a genius!
In one of the other forums here, it is recommended to you bags of ice tossed through the toilet, then drive around for a while until the ice is melted. What happens is the ice is hard enough to act as a scraper in the tank, then melts to water for draining. Whoever thought of it originally was a genius!
Exactly right. We put one bag of Sam's Club ice in (20 lbs for $2.40) and drove to the dump station. All was melted when we got there and the tank emptied in no time. Then we sent a couple (okay, more like 4) buckets of water through (already emptied the fresh water tank) to rinse it.
That person is a total genius 'cause the tank is completely clean...as in as a whistle...after it had sat for years with solids in it, no less (yep, I'm gagging at the thought).
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/cool.gif "cool")
IMO .. you want to do ONE-side of a gasket and then OIL the other side ... that works great. You do NOT have to buy new gaskets each time something comes apart
REMEMBER .... the rocker-covers ONLY require INCH-pounds of torque. Do NOT overtighten. It will SQUISH the gasket and will WARP the stamped-steel rocker/valve cover.
MasterBoondocker wrote:
Some here are suggesting a spray-gasket(on both sides of the gasket)?? FINE-if you never want to take it apart. But if you ever have to ... it will be a mess. You will be scraping gasket material until the cows-come-home.
Some here are suggesting a spray-gasket(on both sides of the gasket)?? FINE-if you never want to take it apart. But if you ever have to ... it will be a mess. You will be scraping gasket material until the cows-come-home.
Yes, it is very hard to remove by scraping alone ... that's what the Permatex Gasket Remover is for, as well as loosening pieces of gaskets that are stuck on due to age, heat, etc. Remove as much of the gasket as you can easily, spray on Gasket Remover, and the rest of the gasket can be wiped off with a rag. (Okay, you may need a second application of Gasket Remover and/or a little bit of elbow grease ... but not as much as scraping alone.)
Unfortunately, Gasket Remover doesn't work as well on RTV.
MasterBoondocker wrote:
IMO .. you want to do ONE-side of a gasket and then OIL the other side ... that works great. You do NOT have to buy new gaskets each time something comes apart
IMO .. you want to do ONE-side of a gasket and then OIL the other side ... that works great. You do NOT have to buy new gaskets each time something comes apart
Yes, a lot of people use this approach also, especially racers who have to pull their engines apart to check things after racing. Also, people who have to adjust the tappets regularly due to using solid lifters.
MasterBoondocker wrote:
REMEMBER .... the rocker-covers ONLY require INCH-pounds of torque. Do NOT overtighten. It will SQUISH the gasket and will WARP the stamped-steel rocker/valve cover.
REMEMBER .... the rocker-covers ONLY require INCH-pounds of torque. Do NOT overtighten. It will SQUISH the gasket and will WARP the stamped-steel rocker/valve cover.
Very good point ... the same with oil pan gaskets. These are two areas where I always use my inch-pound torque wrench -- so everything's tightened just right and evenly.