NOS Gasket Prep?

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tricolormonster
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:54 pm
Location: Los Angeles

NOS Gasket Prep?

Postby tricolormonster » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:13 am

So any tips on prepping the NOS paper gaskets from Ducati? They are in excellent condition, as the wax bag had never been opened.

I've heard a few different things, so I thought I'd get a consensus.

"Soak in the oil you're going to run in...."
"Soak in 90wt oil"
"Soak in Olive Oil" (Tom Bailey)
"Soak in water to expand"


Soaking seems to be the first step, but in what mysterious liquid? Or are they all valid.
There seems to be some "leeway" when it comes to italian bikes. :D

anyone?

stu

DewCatTea-Bob
Posts: 2897
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:53 am
Location: Near SE side of Lake Michigan

Re: NOS Gasket Prep?

Postby DewCatTea-Bob » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:22 am

" So any tips on prepping the NOS paper gaskets from Ducati? "

____ First, if the gasket already fits exactly as it should, then there's no need to 'soak' it ! _ But very often those paper-gaskets seem to have warped and/or shrunk a bit too much to easily fit as they were meant to !
In these cases, soaking such paper-gaskets in warm distilled-water (for relaxing, un-shrinking & un-warping/flattening). _ Then dry-off, slightly, by either... taking the dripping-wet gasket and
placing it onto & spreading it out to normal-shape, on a pane of glass,, then place a sheet of paper-towel over it and something flat & heavy to hold the gasket in it's intended shape while the excess water is removed, or,,
or place the still wet gasket between the pages of a full-sized phone-book -(that's placed flatly on a hard floor), & lined with no more than two single sheets of paper-toweling against your wet gasket, and then place a flat & HEAVY-weight directly on top of the now closed book (until it's had time to get most of the water back out of it), so as to help keep it from re-shrinking & distorting as excess water is removed.
Yet, it's okay, even desirable, if the gasket still feels ever so slightly damp, after it's been properly pressed into std.shape and is about to be placed into it's intended place of use.
__ Once ya then have your gasket that's going to behave & fit correctly for ya, ya should also then have the mating-surface of the cover (which your prepared gasket is made to fit), prepared with a light spread of gasket-adhesive/sealer -(I've mostly used Permatex #3, leaving it sit applied until it gets tacky to the touch), before ya then carefully lay-down & mate the gasket onto THAT mating surface !
AND, after the paper-material of the gasket seems to be about fully dry (and certainly before an extra stubborn example seems to be shrinking in place, again!), to keep the gasket from ever getting stuck onto the motor-case mating-surface as well - (don't ya really hate to have to scrape-off old-pieces of left-behind gasket-paper material from that hard-to-get-at motor-case surface!?!), then use your finger to spead a thin layer of fresh grease onto the surface of your pre-placed paper-gasket. _ Let it have a chance to absorb somewhat, and then install your cover with gasket onto your motor-case.
__ And in exchange for all this seemingly extra-work, you should never need to buy another gasket for the job ever again ! _ As from then on, every time you remove the cover, the gasket will always still be intact in it's place & still completely mated to it's intended mating-surface of the cover, and thus still ready for re-use (over & over) !
Otherwise without this suggested preparation-routine of mine, the next time the cover is removed, your previously new gasket will likely get torn-apart by having gotten itself stuck to both of it's mating-surfaces, and then just make another job of itself as you'll then have to go through the added trouble of stripping-off what's left of it from it's two mating-surfaces. - (I personally HATE that!) _ And then of course you'll next need to find & buy still another replacement-gasket for redoing that same job again (over & over).
__ Take my advice, (& nip-it all in the butt-end) !


Dukaddy-DUKEs,
DCT-Bob
PLEASE NOTE... If this-post is not-yet signed-off with '-Bob', then I'm still in the process of completing it,, and if not also included with 'DCT' near bottom as well, then I may edit this post's wording at a later time. - Dct.Bob


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