Best all around engine / transmission sealers

[james]

Hello to all,
What is your favorite type of sealer for engine or transmissions.
Permatex
Silicone /RTV
Honda bond
3M
??
There's always a need for some type of sealant.
What have you used and had much success with?

jim

[108]

GM engine adhesive / sealant #88861417, Hylomar (can be found as a Permatex product) and JB weld--normal and "Kwik". With these four products you can do just about anything.

[Cotten]

Jim!

Sorry, but I don't subscribe to the " There's always a need for some type of sealant" theory.

Top quality gasket manufacturers use papers that often have their own adhesive applied or embedded. Slicking a goober on top can complicate things.

I grease cork. And a little stick-um like Gasgacinch can help when it seems like you need three hands.
But if your gaskets looks shiny at all, fresh out of a modern package, there is little point in painting them up.

...Cotten

[john HD]

gaskacinch
and
permatex aircraft grade form-a-gasket (i have found this to work really well for sealing radiator hoses to modern plastic radiators!)

sillycone for exhaust pipes.

john

[FlatHeadSix]

James
All of the advice so far is right on the money.

Where gaskets are called for there is no substitute for GOOD modern production gaskets, stay away from the old NOS or surplus stuff, buy only new production. James Gaskets are the best as far as I'm concerned. As Cotten said, all they require is a little grease (petrolatum, vasoline) when installing them.

For bare flanges I use an anaerobic sealant, like johnhd mentioned it has its origins in the aircraft industry. In the old days they used Permatex #2, still available, but its nasty stuff, it always gets on and in places you don't want it and there is no solvent known to man that will clean it up.

RTV, sillycone, is for exhaust ONLY!, don't put it anywhere that it could possibly wind up inside the engine.

I posted this earlier in the thread that mbskeam started when he got lucky after snapping his armature shaft...

mike

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[steinauge]

The only place I usually use sealer is between the case halves.I use either hylomar or Yamabond there. I remember when RTV first came along it was hailed as the greatest thing since beer in bottles----We used to get about one engine in a month that had died of silicone ingestion.As Cotten says a little stickum is handy when you need 3 hands-in those cases I use spray Permatex hi-tack.About the only other sealer I use is copper coat on metal head gaskets. Completely off the subject I went riding yesterday(it was biketober fest here)And stopped at the cabbage patch. A guy walked up to me and said "Wow,thats a really cool bike! Is it somekind of old Sportster?" I was riding a 49 FL-------!#$^**??!

[Cotten]

For non-gasketed joints such as sealing oil line threads, I prefer Gasgacinch because it doesn't appear modern.

For mating case halves, I prefer the MOCO's early '80's choice of 3M Industrial Adhesive #800.
Yamabond4 only lasted a handfull of years for me before my cases leaked, probably from fuel contamination of the oil.

...Cotten

[PanPal]

Silver paint works well. Most silver color paints have a fine metal flake in them. let the two pieces dry to the touch and bolt em up. This works on a lot of applications anyway.

[john HD]

"Wow,thats a really cool bike! Is it somekind of old Sportster?" I was riding a 49 FL-------!#$^**??!

kurt,

i was out west at a "biker" function about 8 years ago when a "dude" walked up to me and said "wow nice bike, is that a panzer bro?"

i replied by saying "no that is not a panzer, a panzer is a german tank. and by the way you are NOT my bro, he is standing right there." by youngest brother just about pissed himself from laughing so hard.

the bewildered faux biker wandered away after that.

john

[FlatHeadSix]

I prefer the MOCO's early '80's choice of 3M Industrial Adhesive #800.
...Cotten

Cotten, can you still get that stuff?, in quantities less than a gallon?, available to consumers?

from the 3-M folks:
3Mâ„¢ Scotch-Sealâ„¢ Industrial Sealant 800
Air dries to a flexible, rubbery seal for aluminum, cold rolled steel, galvanized steel, glass, many plastics and other surfaces. Resists weather, water, oils, fuel, detergent and soap solutions.

GALLONS AND LARGER - NOT INTENDED FOR CONSUMER SALE OR USE.

mike

[FlatHeadSix]

and if you don't like Gasgacinch you at least HAVE to like their trademark "Slipping Girl":

[Cotten]

Mike!

I always bought #800 at a commercial paint store in tubes, after the local Dealership stopped selling it to me.
Next time I go to the big city, I 'spose I should stock up, as I'm down to three tubes.

And as PanPal points out, there are certainly times when an appropriate paint is the best sealer of all.
But my favorite fuel-proof isocyanate urethane (Omnithane 530) only comes in gallons as well, and hazmat shipping puts it up as high as $80.

....Cotten

[james]

Glad I asked
Never heard of "gasgacinch" I just learned some more good stuff.
Cotten, did you say you use gasgacinch along with new gaskets, i.e. cam cover gasket, lifter block gaskets, generator gasket and so on?

jim

[Cotten]

James!

I'll use it if its the only way to make the gasket stay put for assembly, or if its a spot I expect to disassemble soon as it makes clean-up easy,... but otherwise, I count on the pre-treated paper of the gasket to do its job.

Cylinder base gaskets never get anything but grease or vaseline!

...Cotten

[FlatHeadSix]

and let's not forget the way that grandpa used to do it....

many moons ago, before harleys had starter buttons and we used to fix things with baling wire instead of duct tape and zip ties, there was Indian Head Gasket Shellac. You could stick ANYTHING to ANYTHING with Indian Head, it was a tradition passed on from father to son. But, don't try to unscrew the cap on the bottle your grandfather gave you, it will never come off (trust me). Luckily you can buy a brand new bottle for yourself, they still make and sell it today, available everywhere auto parts are sold, and cheap too!

I'm surprised that Cotten didn't mention it, as much as he likes the old stuff. It is kind of like Permatex #2, you can't clean it up with anything once it cures, I'll bet that P4 gasoline won't even touch it.

just a parting shot....

mike