Removing Gasket Material
 

I was just curious if anybody had any good ideas on what to use to remove gasket material. I'm working on a head gasket, and am currently just using acetone and then lightly scraping with a razor.

They make a kit you can buy, or I think you can just buy the scraper. If what you are doing seems to be working just stick with that.

rotory tool is good if you have a top faced bit and a router type guide, otherwise you WILL have peaks and valleys.

Another solution is to use a 2x4 wraped in sandpaper, rags in all cylinders and sand it down slowly.

Otherwise, a paint scraper, rags in the cylinders and away you go.

Thanks for the help. I was told by a guy at a local shop that oven cleaner will take if off, but that hasn't been working very well at all... I'm still using the razor, using it to scrape the large areas where I can tell there is a lot sitting there, and then some 600 sandpaper after that. Which in the end is really slow work, but it seems there is no easy way about it.. Thanks a lot again.

I've completed the work on the cyclinder head, and have everything assembled, actually I finished last Friday, and the car actually started without a problem. But now I have another question. It isn't mentioned in the service manual, but is it necessary to re-torque the head bolts after having driven the car?

Oh, and one other little side note, if anybody knows what I'm refering to. In the cyclinder head, on the far left front, and far right front where the head bolts run through the head, there are two little sleeves that fit around the bolt and into the cyclinder head. I couldn't figure out what purpose these actually served. Only on those two head bolts though, if there was one for every bolt, I would imagine they would be there to strength or support the head, maybe from somebody over torqueing the head bolts down. I don't really know how else to describe these "sleeves", but I'm just curious to why they're there.

Quite a releif actually seeing it run, huh. I know what you mean. As far as re-torquing the head bolts, I've never heard of that, nor done it, but I wouldn't use that to justify not doing a bit of extra research in that area.

Those "sleeves" are there to ensure proper alignment of the head during installation. I hope you re-installed them.

Yea, well that was frustrating. I had already put the head back on, and and the head bolts, and was about to keep moving along, and install the intake manifold, and then I realized I had not replaced them, so back apart it came.

It doesn't seem like they would do much to ensure correct alignment, they sit flush with the face of the cylinder head? Unless when I was re-installing it I should not have pushed them all the way into the head, and let them be forced in while tightening the head bolts?

Was there a place for them to be inserted into the deck of the block (where the head would mate up to it)? I typically just place them in the block and then align the head with them. Pushing them all the way into the head will do nothing (as you have discovered).

Well, I didn't really look for it. But off-hand I would have to say no, there wasn't. As I recall, all of the holes for the head bolts were identical on the face of the block. But maybe I just didn't notice, but I doubt it. The only reason I knew the sleeves were there was when I took it the cyclinder head to be pressure-checked and the guy removed them.
But as far as getting correct alignment, once the head bolts were all threaded through, wouldn't they align the gasket, block, and head? I could see the point for the sleeves to make the assembly a little quicker and easier for the alignment before you put the bolts back in...

I haven't even gone through a full tank of gas yet, so I'm not quite sure, but just by looking at my trip odometer, it seems like my gas mileage has actually gone down a little. I'm going to wait another tank or two and then compare to what kind of milage I was getting before the job. But would this make sense at all, or could I have screwed something up?

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep an eye out for any unusual problems for the next 1000 miles or so. I can say that I honestly don't know what would happen if the head is misaligned just a hair, probably nothing. The head bolts are typically made in such a way they do a pretty good job aligning the head by themselves. The sleeves probably serve more of a purpose of aiding in the alignment of the head moreso during assembly so that the head gasket doesn't get damaged.

That's what I figured while inserting the bolts. When all eight were in, not even torqued down, just threaded by hand, the head wouldn't move around at all.
Thanks for the input.