Cambox cork gasket. Any better alternatives?

[Elanman99]

Has anyone found a way of making the cambox to head joint seal reliably without replacing the cork/foil/cork gasket every time?

I wondered whether it would be possible to coat the head surface with some release agent and use silicone or other modern sealant on the cambox joint face to create a permanent reusable joint that stayed attached to the cambox.

I think the quality of this gasket that is sold by the usual Lotus parts suppliers is not as good as they were years ago. The last few I have bought seem to have been supplied distorted, or just delaminated after a few weeks use.

Any thoughts?

Ian Phillips

[ElliottN]

The gaskets I use are just cork (no foil, no laminating) and carefully installed give me no leaks and no problems. I get mine from a local gasket specialist - they have a die and cut a couple for me at a time.

[ianf]

Ian,

I have had similar problems and have over come them by using modern black gasket stuff rather than blue hylomar or whatever. This works ok.

Elliott,

You could set up a nice little export business with your supplier!

Ian

[Foxie]

Ian,

I use a good gasket adhesive contact cement (Wellseal or equivalent) to glue the cork gasket to the cam cover, and smear the cork on the side in contact with the head with engine oil. I can remove and replace the cover whenever, and seldom need to fit a new gasket. You don't need to overtighten the cover nuts either.

Sean Murray

[marcfuller]

Has anyone found a way of making the cambox to head joint seal reliably without replacing the cork/foil/cork gasket every time?

I use a 2 sided viton over poly (Anyway I thnk that is what it is made from.) cam cover gasket that is very durable and seals very well. And it is easily reusable. I sourced it from Dave Bean Engineering.

[Elanman99]

Marc

I looked on the Dave Bean website but could not find the Viton/Poly gasket material. Please could you give a better description or manufacturers name so I can try and obtain it in the UK.

TIA

Ian Phillips

[poiuyt]

I use grey RTP on both surfaces with a gasket between when I don't expect to be removing the cover any time soon. Alternatively I've used this on the head only with no sealer on the cover until one of the folks at Dave Bean suggested using it only on the cover so there is no chance of dropping pieces into the engine when you scrape it off the head.

Has anyone tried a bead of RTP on both surfaces, let it skin over for a half hour or so, and then place them together with a coating of oil to keep them from sticking together. You should have a permanent gasket without the cork if you do this right.

Steve B.

[Foxie]

Yes, possible, but why coat both surfaces ?

Sean Murray

[simonriley11]

I do the same as Sean using a standard gasket from Paul Mattys and have just completed 5000 miles in 12 months with no noticeable leaks. I did a full service last week and the gasket came away with the cam cover leaving no gasket residue on the head. Then with the cam cover on the bench just carefully remove the gasket using a sharp Stanley knife blade. I would add that the first time you do it this way you have to get the mating face on the head clean of any old gasket and with no burrs.

[marcfuller]

Please could you give a better description or manufacturers name so I can try and obtain it in the UK.

I believe it to be manufactured by Cometic, but it is not in their on-line catalog. (Although they do have the T-C head gasket, etc. listed.) You might send them an email as to availability and stockists/sources for their gaskets in the UK. They will make up custom gaskets and they also sell direct. Their website is- http://www.cometic.com (I will be ordering a custom MLS T-C head gasket from them)

Look in the "Sport Compact" section and then "Ford" for the Lotus gaskets. (page 26)

I also think I guessed wrong about the composition, from reading the catalog it appears to be double sided nitrile with an aluminum/foam core (AFM) page 1.

Hope it helps!

[twincamman]

coat each side of the gasket with clear silicone ---ed

[steveww]

I put a thin layer of RTV (silicon) sealant on the cam cover, apply the gasket to it and leave to set over night with some weights holding it down. Then I fit the cover/gasket to the engine and torque up. No leaks so far and when you do have to pull the cover off it will come off with out to much fuss. Some times the gasket is OK some times it is destroyed. For the small cost I always fit a new one any way.

[Robbie693]

Is this RTV different to comon-or-garden bathroom silicon?

[steveww]

I tend to use unibond general purpose translucent silicon sealer from B&Q for the cam cover and sump. When I replaced the water pump I used some fancy automotive hight temp stuff.

[vikebo]

Just to mention it, some sealants can destroy a lambda sensor due to silicone contamination. Obviously only an issue if you have one.

Eivind