Gaskets

[1964FLDUO]

What gaskets do you guys reccomend, the regular James or the James with orange silicone? I have heard mixed reviews on the silicone ones.

[panmarkski]

The Metal / Silicone base gaskets did not work for me, leaked at the feed area. Paper works fine

[1964FLDUO]

I had the same problem with my base Gaskets with silicone, you confirmed my thoughts.

[Panacea]

I also tried the metal/sillycone gaskets with bad results. I don't know why, perhaps my cylinder base area is was not perfectly flat. The paper gaskets worked fine...Mike

[CaptMike]

Now my .02 worth. I've always been a Hi-Tack and Copper Coat man... I used the Hi-Tack on my base gaskets and they didn't leak. What did leak was the valve cover gaskets. I used the Thick paper and my valve covers puked Red Hi-Tack oil ever where. Pulling the heads I got the thin gaskets and 1194 Three Bond and right now I'm leak free. I just didn't expect 12 friggin screws with the wide rings would leak anything. WRONG! After using the Three Bond, I can tell you what I'd use on the base gaskets.

[1964FLDUO]

My rocker covers leaked oil too, only on the low sides(exhaust) and by the spark plugs, but it sure looks ugly. Tried James thick gasket and thin gasket with Permatex Sealant 2 and they still leaked, I have considered trying cork when the motor goes back together, but those always seem to dry out and leak.

[Bigincher]

Question....
Where do you guys buy your James gaskets? Directly from the James website, or through your local Indy..?
Need to buy a few thing, would like to do it economically...

[1964FLDUO]

I have found its pretty reasonable to buy them through my local Harley Dealership, but it's hard to beat Internet prices. JP Cycles has good prices on James Gaskets. For example I paid around $60.00 out the door for a top end gasket set at my Dealership, JP has the same set for $48.00 plus shipping.

[caschnd1]

My rocker covers leaked oil too, only on the low sides(exhaust) and by the spark plugs, but it sure looks ugly. Tried James thick gasket and thin gasket with Permatex Sealant 2 and they still leaked, I have considered trying cork when the motor goes back together, but those always seem to dry out and leak.

Persistant rocker cover leaks usually means that your rocker covers are not perfectly flat on the sealing surface. Another problem, that is common with aftermarket covers, is that the pan will start to roll virtical at the edge of the cover screw hole. This is most common with that hole nearest the exhaust valve spring. These are almost impossible to get to stop leaking.

-Craig

[1964FLDUO]

Someone once reccomended grinding the rocker covers flat with a large disk grinder, not sure how well that would work, I have inquired about getting them milled flat, but no luck yet.

[CaptMike]

To check the flatness (and get mine flatter) I used the Back-side of a 12" x 12" ceramic floor tile. The back of the tile is flat. Clean the back of the valve cover flange and give it a couple black lines from a Sharpie. Next use the (back side) of the tile like it was Sand Paper and check for low places. Both mine were pretty close.

I choose the Thick paper gaskets to begin with and I think they were "wicking" the oil out. When I removed the covers I checked the gaskets and covers and I actually had Squeezed the gaskets down about 1/32" so I could tell I had 100% contact (put mine Leaked). I looked at every gasket out there and considered Silicone and bought the thick cork-rubber gaskets. (I'd scraped out too many Chevy cork valve cover gaskets over the years and decided against the cork-rubber.) In my opinion the success/failure has to do with the Sealer. If you dig here, there's about 4 different ones that had a good success. Yamabond, Hondabond, Three Bond and I don't remember what Mr. Cotton uses but I think it was comparable to the first 3 which are I'm pretty sure the same type stuff.

[Panacea]

http://www.accurate-engineering.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; The accurate gaskets don't leak, no goop needed...Mike

[steve_wood]

+1 For Accurate Engineering. Never had any problems. I bought aftermarket covers and I had to lap them to get them flat. Lots of work but they look and work perfect now.

[Panacea]

Now my .02 worth. I've always been a Hi-Tack and Copper Coat man... I used the Hi-Tack on my base gaskets and they didn't leak. What did leak was the valve cover gaskets. I used the Thick paper and my valve covers puked Red Hi-Tack oil ever where. Pulling the heads I got the thin gaskets and 1194 Three Bond and right now I'm leak free. I just didn't expect 12 friggin screws with the wide rings would leak anything. WRONG! After using the Three Bond, I can tell you what I'd use on the base gaskets.

Keep in mind you may have to adjust the cylinders when you align the intake manifold, probably not a good idea to "glue" down the base gaskets...A little grease wouldn't hurt...Mike