1970 Palmer
Full Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2020
- Messages
- 455
Today we seem to expect every part that comes from our vendors to be a perfect fit right out of the box. Surprisingly they usually do fit very well.
One part that has been a problem from day one is gasket fit. I'm sure the dies that cut these gaskets are of a correct size for the part. But these products are porous and absorb moisture, and then dry out and shrink. Cork gaskets were used on many different places on our trucks. The more common places to find original cork gaskets are valve covers, pan gaskets, end gaskets for intake manifolds, and Holley carbs.
You could go to the dealer fifty years ago and purchase new replacement gaskets and they would be shrunk up in the package and not be a direct fit. It's not a new problem, and it's not a new problem for our specialty vendors.
In the Ford Dealership (1965 to 71), I worked along side a old crusted Ford Mechanic named Shorty, and here's what he taught me. We would take the new Ford Gaskets and fit them to the engine part. For example on a pan or valve cover, you lay the new gasket over the part and determine where it has shrunk and does not fit. Then place the gasket on a hard surface (I use my welding table) and take a 2# Ball Peen hammer and hammer the gasket to fit. The slight radius of the large Ball Peen hammer is just right to disperse the blow and flatten the gasket. Obviously this requires a little finesse knowing the right amount of pressure. just like doing metal work with a body hammer and a dolly. You can work one side of the gasket to take out distorted curves, or stretch the width or length. Sounds dumb, but it WORKS.
This technique works on the foam style gaskets just the same. I was installing some tail light lens gaskets today and the new gaskets were distorted and unusable out of the bag. Using the hammer technique and about two minutes, they were a perfect fit.
The Holley cork float bowel and metering block gaskets will shrink up as soon as you take them off a carb to change jets. If you take a aluminum pie pan and toss the gaskets in the gas you just drained from the float bowel and leave them soaking until your ready to reinstall they will keep their original shape. If you have new "dry" Holley gaskets that are shrunk, just use the above mentioned hammer technique to resize them.
I'm sure this information is already known by the "seasoned old salts" here. But maybe it will help just one new comer.
John Palmer
One part that has been a problem from day one is gasket fit. I'm sure the dies that cut these gaskets are of a correct size for the part. But these products are porous and absorb moisture, and then dry out and shrink. Cork gaskets were used on many different places on our trucks. The more common places to find original cork gaskets are valve covers, pan gaskets, end gaskets for intake manifolds, and Holley carbs.
You could go to the dealer fifty years ago and purchase new replacement gaskets and they would be shrunk up in the package and not be a direct fit. It's not a new problem, and it's not a new problem for our specialty vendors.
In the Ford Dealership (1965 to 71), I worked along side a old crusted Ford Mechanic named Shorty, and here's what he taught me. We would take the new Ford Gaskets and fit them to the engine part. For example on a pan or valve cover, you lay the new gasket over the part and determine where it has shrunk and does not fit. Then place the gasket on a hard surface (I use my welding table) and take a 2# Ball Peen hammer and hammer the gasket to fit. The slight radius of the large Ball Peen hammer is just right to disperse the blow and flatten the gasket. Obviously this requires a little finesse knowing the right amount of pressure. just like doing metal work with a body hammer and a dolly. You can work one side of the gasket to take out distorted curves, or stretch the width or length. Sounds dumb, but it WORKS.
This technique works on the foam style gaskets just the same. I was installing some tail light lens gaskets today and the new gaskets were distorted and unusable out of the bag. Using the hammer technique and about two minutes, they were a perfect fit.
The Holley cork float bowel and metering block gaskets will shrink up as soon as you take them off a carb to change jets. If you take a aluminum pie pan and toss the gaskets in the gas you just drained from the float bowel and leave them soaking until your ready to reinstall they will keep their original shape. If you have new "dry" Holley gaskets that are shrunk, just use the above mentioned hammer technique to resize them.
I'm sure this information is already known by the "seasoned old salts" here. But maybe it will help just one new comer.
John Palmer
